God is Salvation

Isaiah 12:1-2 [English Standard Version]

12:1 You will say in that day:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

2 Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become msalvationn.Â?

These words are deeply emotional words for me. I cannot read them without thinking of the cross. His anger turned away from me alright - it all was turned on Jesus. Every vile and twisted thing I've ever been was pushed onto Jesus so that God might become my comfort!

How amazing is this God of ours. He loves us so much that even while we are wicked he chooses to turn his anger aside. He makes that choice, and He also becomes one of us so that His terrible anger will have somewhere to go.

The wrath of God pours out of God and into God so that He might become our peace, our comfort and our salvation.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord. They are meaningful words, but they seem so small next to what He has done. How can I ever hope to give Him thanks enough? What words are there to express that? All of human language is small and weak next to God's amazing action. How can words ever be enough

So I will trust Him, and I will not be afraid. I think this is how I give Him my thanks - I live my life with faith in Him, trusting Him, and giving to Him every fear that threatens me. If He can be my salvation and rescuecue me from myself and from all my wretchedness, if He can turn His anger aside from my sins, surely He can handle my parenting problems, or my financial worries, or my health troubles. By trusting Him with all my life - that's how I put flesh on my thanks. Even as He put on flesh to be my forgiveness and my salvation, my trust is my thanks incarnate.

And when I begin to trust Him, I discover something wonderful. Something that my sin would hide from me if I stayed lost in my sins. When I trust Him, I find that He is truly everything I've ever wanted in my life. I would never have known how really wonderful it can be to be with God if I had only trusted myself. But trustin Him I find that just resting in His presence and being quiet with Him - this is life. I might have lived my whole life chasing things that would never give me peace. I might have lived all my life trying to prove to Him (or to the people around me or even just to myself) that I am really a good and loveable person. But when I trust Him, I find that He IS salvation from all of that.

God is not merely savior. He is salvation. To be with Him is heaven. He is paradise. In His presence is where the Kingdom is realized in my life. When I rest with Him, when I pray and know He is with me, when I meditate on His Word, I experience Him, and He is salvation. I am rescued from life without Him. With Him, I am not the weak man who fails all the time, but I become strong. With Him is empowerment to become who I dream I might be in the very best of my dreams. With Him, all of life becomes music and song.

All of this comes from Jesus, who gave himself for me so that the anger that I inspired in God might be turned away, and God might become my comfort and my salvation. What an amazing man He is. I love Him so much.