Isaiah 43:11-25 - Ignoring the Warnings/Redemption Through It - Live Loved

Your stomach drops, your heart beats faster and you can’t help but feel a little nauseous. These are the feelings we experience when we feel like we’ve done something we can’t go back in time and try to fix.

These are feelings we get when what we’ve done feels unforgiveable.

Isaiah is a really hard book to read. It’s challenging because it’s long, and it has a lot of events that are hard to comprehend. There are 66 chapters. 66 chapters of sinning, consequences to follow the sin and disciplined learning. There are 66 chapters to piece together what can seem like a puzzling balance of a God who gives loves and a God who gives judgment. It can be really hard to read because sometimes we feel like the people in Isaiah.

Have you ever made a mistake that was so bad it felt like nothing could make up for it?

There are days when we make small, silly mistakes and other days when we make bad, BIG mistakes. There are some mistakes that we carry around for far too long and the guilt rides on our back for days, weeks or years.

I imagine that’s how the Israelites felt when they were receiving their punishment for the mistakes they made. Except they didn’t make one tiny mistake, ask for forgiveness and then move on. They actually did the opposite. The people of Israel made a ton of big mistakes as they sinned against God by prioritizing their time and gifts to praise things other than Him.

In addition to repeatedly making mistakes, they were given numerous warnings to stop. As Isaiah prophesied to the people, their hearts were hardened because they wanted to follow what the other nations around them were doing. It was a slow fade from a life filled with seeing the faithful promises of God fulfilled to a life filled with chasing their own desires and what was popular at the time. The people were given numerous chances to acknowledge their mistakes- but they didn’t.

How many times have we stubbornly ignored warnings from God in our life?

When we feel conviction and guilt, do we listen to it or keep going? God calls Israel out on their sin. Verse 11 says, “’I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I am God.’”

Time passed and the Israelites continued to ignore the mercy God was wanting to show them. I imagine Isaiah got pretty tired wondering how many times the people would screw up before they finally got it right.

I think I can imagine it because we do the same. We make mistakes and then choose to ignore God speaking to us. Conviction is tough, and we don’t want to change from what’s comfortable or popular. We get caught in a cycle where we keep making mistakes that feel too big to fix.

We feel like our mistakes are too big for God to forgive.

While that’s what we tell ourselves, this is far from the truth.

In Isaiah 43 we see that after all the mistakes the Israelites made and how badly they screwed up, we see a glimpse of the goodness and mercy of God.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (verses 18-19).

These are two of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. We hold on to moments we’ve messed up and feelings where we’ve felt like failure. We subconsciously place labels on ourselves as if those failures make us less desirable.

Part of that verse has the question: “Do you not perceive it?” This question is almost posed like He’s asking, “Isn’t it obvious?!” I love that! He wasn’t saying this to make the Israelites feel dumb, it’s because they weren’t grasping what God was offering. And there are so many times we do the same.

“’I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins’” (verse 25). He takes those mistakes, and that guilt, and asks us to recognize we were wrong, but know that He forgives us. He forgets the old things we’ve done because He has a new thing coming.

God has His arms open saying, “Don’t you see me? I’m here! I’m ready to forgive and take the weight off of you!” As He’s saying this, we start listing a million reasons why that’s false because we have deemed ourselves unworthy and not good enough. But that isn’t the truth. He is making old things new. The new thing is US! He is making our slate clean and our burden light.

He is making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. If He can do that, I know He can forgive my mistakes and show His love even when I feel like my mistake is too big to forgive.

I don’t know what mistakes you’ve made or what past you’re holding onto. It could be a silly thing or it could be a big thing. Whatever it is, don’t buy the lie or list the reasons why your mistake is too big to forgive. It isn’t. We serve a BIG God who forgives BIG things because He loves us real BIG. It’s time to let go. You are made new.

If you want to know more about the first part of Isaiah 43, I wrote about it, and you can read more here (click “here” for link to work).