This Father of Ours

Do you ever ponder how blessed we believers in Jesus Christ are, to be called the children of the Most High God?  John puts it this way:  See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are (1 John 3:1).  What an amazing grace and kindness this is to us pieces of dust (See Psalm 103:14)! 

I marveled again at this merciful fatherliness of God's this morning as I read Isaiah 30 (yes, I'm skipping around).  The prophet seems to be vacillating between God's wrath in judgment and His mercy to His people.  Back and forth, His promise of gentleness to His little ones and His promise of wrath to the rebellious ones. 

But the part that struck me today was verses 27-33 where we see the burning of His intense and rightful wrath, the fury that He reserves for those who reject Him.  We see hailstones, terror, a stream of sulfur, the descending blow of His arm.  Yet, in the middle of this frightfulness is tucked this little verse:  You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 

The King is coming to avenge all wrongs, and in that day we will rejoice like never before.  Even now, we can have gladness of heart in knowing that our King has already come to win His bride and disarm the enemy.  We can rejoice that there is coming a day when the holy feast is kept and we will have undiluted gladness of heart, because the King comes to fetch His bride.  That's us, ladies.  And forever we will be with Him.  But even now, He dwells with us and in us; what an exquisite chosenness that is.  Imagine this King choosing you, and then destroying your enemy for you.  What protection. What strength on our behalf.  What a Father we have. 

Be filled with gladness this day.