Counter-intuitive

“In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing. Isaiah 30:15

Repentance and Rest – “But I gotta’ do something!”  That’s the approach we naturally take when it comes to crisis.  We want action!  Something’s got to happen.  After all, if we just sit around, nothing will change.  What we have ignored is the sovereignty of God.  What folly!

God tells us that rescue (salvation) does not come through our frantic efforts.  Reinforcements arrive through repentance and rest.  It just seems so ridiculous.  Everyone knows that doing nothing doesn’t change a thing.  We can’t stand waiting.  We want to see movement.  So, we push ahead – and side step God.

This verse is Hebrew parallelism.  That means that the second part of the verse clarifies and explains the first part of the verse.  So, the Hebrew phrase beshuva vanakhat (“in returning and rest”) is explained in the parallel “in quietness and trust.”  Think about that for a moment.   When I work against my natural tendency by allowing God to act, I must put my trust in Him.  As soon as I jump to take care of my crisis, I yank the authority out of God’s hands.  In the process, I prevent Him from showing His grace, mercy and power.  Notice that my rest begins with my repentance.  Actually, the word is shuv, a word that is used hundreds of times in the Old Testament for the idea of returning to God.  Repentance is not simply confession.  Repentance is returning to right relationship.  It is coming back to obedience.  It is remembering the former days when God’s power brought me out of captivity.  It is recalling Who God is.  I can rest (nekhath) only because I have returned.

Now that we see the parts of the first phrase, we can understand the explanation and clarification of the second phrase.  Repentance (returning) is the same as tranquility (shehket).  It is calm in the face of the storm.  And it is coupled with trust (betach), the tangible sense of security and well-being that results from absolute confidence in God.  Now we see that returning to God results in tranquility and resting in God results in confidence.  It’s just the opposite of what we would expect.  We think that we will achieve peace and security through our effort.  We are fools.  Isaiah has only this to say about our stubborn resistance to the truth: “You were not willing.”  We were not willing to give up our myth of control.  We were not willing to come back to Him.  We were not willing to let Him take charge.  We were not willing to submit to His authority.

My friends, God does not help those who help themselves.  How can He?  They are doing exactly the opposite of what allows Him to provide for them.

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