“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” (Isaiah 30:15 NIV)
Repentance and rest are the R&R of the Kingdom. These words were first spoken of Israel: a nation that had been set apart for God from the beginning. They were God’s people. His covenant came with some stipulations: the Israelites were expected to live by God’s rules and rest on the seventh day. Both of these concepts proved difficult for rebellious people and Isaiah was issuing them a formal reminder.
Rest makes room for repentance. When one slows their soul to God’s speed, they suddenly become aware of all the ways they’ve fallen short. They have time and space to feel the angst in their frame and address the issue. Rest allows for repentance and repentance is the reset button; the presser is awarded another opportunity to live God’s way.
As an infant nation, Israel had pressed the button often. The book of Judges lays out the cycle of apostasy: freedom, apostasy, bondage, humility and repentance followed by deliverance – and the wheel turns again. But as Israel grew up, they grew away from their dependance on God. They had forgotten how to repent entirely. By the time Isaiah penned these words, Assyria was at the door because Israel had allowed themselves to live further and further from God. As a direct result of their remorselessness, they were poised for invasion, occupation and exile.
It didn’t have to be like that. God spoke through His proper: return to rest and repentance and find salvation. If God’s people could quiet their hearts long enough to identify the interference caused by their sin, they’d create space for godly sorrow. History informs us that they didn’t. Instead, Israel ran headlong into the consequence of their actions. They would be conquered by Assyria and they would have to learn to seek God in a foreign land.
We, too, tend to run from rest and repentance. If we can just keep our calendar full enough, if we can keep consuming, if we can squeeze all the quiet hours out of our day… we can keep God at arm’s length. We can effectively distance from God tunes out His age-old call to repentance and rest. Unfortunately, when we distance ourselves from the Almighty, we run toward destruction.
The devastation we move toward isn’t a heavy-handed outcome from a cruel Creator: it is the inevitable consequence achieved through life apart from Him. God’s law is grace, actually. He lovingly laid out a way of life that maintains the priority of relationship with Him and others. When we mess this up, He already has a path in place for restoration. He wants us to recover relationships through repentance. This simple act of saying “I’m sorry” and turning from our selfish nature wields such power! It is only in our obstinance that we refuse to rest and hear the loving whisper of God calling us back into confession and restored relationship.
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord God is a God of justice, Blessed are those who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 30:18 NIV)
Lord, today we recognize Your call to rest and repentance. Thank You for reaching out with the cure for our souls. May we have the courage to respond to Your invitation. Help us carve out time to hear Your whisper and grow us up as we own up to our areas of weakness and failure. We see that Your way is better. Help us adhere to Your instruction, increasingly confident in the salvation we find in You. Amen.