The Awakening (Isaiah 50:4b)

Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. (Isaiah 50:4b)

In my last post, "Learning for Life," I noted that "Every day, I need to get refocused on God, His heart, mind and will." This is the first great applicational principle I see in this verse. The second is equally critical for life and learning. It is repeated two times in this brief sentence, "He awakens."

This may seem like a rather benign statement. It is not. It points us to a critical truth: I cannot awaken myself and I cannot understand spiritual truth unless God awakens me.

This important doctrine of scripture could fill volumes. I was dead in my sin (Eph. 2:1). I was incapable of understanding spiritual truth since an unbeliever [dead man] cannot understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14). I needed God to awaken me.

And I am still a man in need of a Savior. I still need God to awaken me; to give me life; to work in me to give me the desires and produce the actions that please him (Phil. 2:13); to give me understanding.

We do so much of our thinking and planning relying on and trusting in our own thinking. Or, we consider popular opinion, thinking, and strategies. Way too often, in our thinking, evaluating, and planning we are godless! Though we know the warning against it so well, we still "lean on our own understanding."

Do we realize how desperately we need God to awaken us to truth? Do we realize how desperately we need God to shape and change and correct our thinking? Are we frightened of relying on our wisdom, even our very best wisdom in living our lives. We should be!
We should be scared to death of living our lives based on our human wisdom and our ability to evaluate, plan, discern, and set a course for our lives. Why? Because, apart from God correcting our thinking, apart from God directing our thoughts, that’s exactly where we’re headed. Death. Destruction.

Remember, there is a way that our careful evaluation, wisdom, and intelligence tells us is the way to go, and in reality, it is the path to ruin, heartache, disaster (Prov. 14:12).

Lord God, awaken in me a desire to do Your will. Give me the determination, the energy, and the passion to do Your will. I need You to awaken within me a heart for You every day. I confess that I am helpless, hopeless and lifeless without You. And ignorant. I am clueless about living without You. I can’t even understand truth unless You, by your Spirit give me understanding. I cannot understand Your Word unless Your Spirit gives me understanding. Remind me of this. Don’t let me approach life or Your Word thinking I can figure it out on my own. Don’t let me think without reminding me that I need you to shape my thinking. Remind me that I need You to awaken me to truth.

Soli Deo Gloria


Tomorrow: No Stopping or Standing! (Isaiah 50:5)