“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:18-21, ESV)

Isaiah begins this chapter where he left of in the last, he is railing against the idolatry that had been adopted by his people. They looked to things fashioned by their own hands as if they were god’s that could save them or redeem them, but the fact is, they could do absolutely nothing for them when they needed help the most.

The Lord (speaking through Isaiah) rails against this idolatry because it leaves His children, who He created, without help when they need it most. It breaks His heart to see them turn to things that can do nothing for them, when they should be depending upon Him.

The issue that Israel had back then is no different than the one that we face today… Though we know that God created us and that He alone sustains us, we still look to other things to provide what only He can provide. It may not be statues we fashion out of wood, clay, or stone; but none the less, we still “worship” other things by giving them a place in our lives that only God should occupy.

The passage I quoted above comes from the back end of this chapter. Notice what it says: “I have seen His ways, but I will heal Him”. Who is this passage talking about?

It’s talking about you.

It’s talking about me.

It’s talking about anyone guilty of the kind of idolatry God is talking about in this passage.

The Lord will heal us. He is gracious and compassionate, and He offers to each and every one of us peace. “Peace, peace to the far and near, and I will heal Him.”

But for those who continue to reject Him, continue to push Him out of their lives, there is no peace. They are like a tossing sea; dirt and muck and mire are stirred up and swirling, a picture of the inner and outer turmoil that we face in this life as a result of rejecting God and the work He desires to do in and through us. The message of judgment is just as loud and clear as the message of hope: For those who reject Him, the ones termed here as “The Wicked”, there will be no lasting peace.

Friends, choose peace.

Choose Jesus.

Don’t reject the work He desires to do in your life.