It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’  And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’  Isaiah 44:28

At the time of this writing, Cyrus had not even been born. It would be another 200 years before he arrived to do precisely what God had promised: deliver God’s people from exile after their defeat, capture, and captivity.  

God is still fulfilling prophecy regarding future events. His prediction of Cyrus comforts us when our lives take an unwelcome turn and our immediate future is uncertain.  God knows the nature of our exiles and deliverances.  The names of those who will shape our future are already pre-chosen. All is on schedule to lead us to glory.  

Isaiah brings us this comfort today.  God has foreknowledge of every detail that constitutes our lives.  He spoke our name long before we existed, called us by name at the moment of our spiritual adoption, and will speak our name again when He welcomes us home.  Not one step (though uncertain as it may seem for us) causes Him to worry about us.  

He is the God who dismantles and the God who rebuilds.  He is the God who wounds and the God who comforts.  He is the God of the faithful and the God of the exiles.  These days, when anger and fear make up our global emotional climate, we trust a Father who whispers, “Don’t be afraid.”  Our life does not begin and end with deliberate, even erratic actions, of influential people.  God’s scepter of justice holds them in check.  

Your people are written prophetically into these days.  Let us rise to carry out the work of ambassadors with confidence and joy.  Amen