So many in our world today prefer lies rather than the truth. This day with God, ask for the truth which is found in His Word. Read the scriptures and ask that He reveals a lesson to apply in life. Ask that He reveals himself through His Creation. He’s near and knows your name and has a great purpose for you.

Reading today in Isaiah 30:1-17, we get a prophecy of invasions of Assyria and Babylon which will cause destruction to the city. Israel in their fear, looked down to Egypt for help. They wanted to form an alliance with Egypt for immediate sanctuary.

I remember while off during summers going through college, I worked for a construction company. One summer we worked to repair the roof of an historic train depot. It was hard work, hot, and gave you motivation to get a college degree so you could someday work in a climate-controlled environment.

Not only was it hot, but the roof was 40 feet high and somewhat steep. I found out after a while to stop looking down because my focus was on the negative impact of my body if I were to fall. Would I break a leg, a shoulder, my hips, or scull? Would I survive the fall?

The lesson was to not look down. Like in today’s passage or in my experiences of working construction during my summers while going through college, do not look down. Instead … look up. Look up to God and ask for His help.

In today’s prophecy from Isaiah, there was no consultation with God about an alliance with Egypt. God was not pleased with Egypt because the people of Egypt had rejected Him. They were rebellious and unwilling to listen to His instructions. He says that the help of Egypt would utterly be useless (v. 7).

Like Israel during this time of today’s prophecy, the warning for us is to turn to God for our protection and refuge during difficulty or fear. When afraid, trust in God. Only God can give true confidence so be in awe of the One who has given all. Be committed to Him, plan with Him, and focus on acting on those plans.

Lord, things are scary in this world, but we can take refuge in You. We are focused on You and know You will get us through the scary times. Instead of looking down, we look up to You and our confidence is restored. We can trust Your plan and can step ahead with purpose in every step. Amen.