But you will not go out in haste, nor will you go as fugitives; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.  Isaiah 52:12

You know the feeling of being blindsided, don’t you?  It is to be caught unaware, to be provoked from an unexpected position.  Adrenalin surges and there’s hardly time to be still in order to collect your thoughts.

A tiny virus blindsided the world in 2020 and no matter your opinion on Covid, we can agree that it wasn’t an army that took us down.  It wasn’t a weather disaster that decimated our landscape by force.  It was a microscopic enemy, invisible to the eye.

These are still moments for us to gather our thoughts.  We are in unprecedented times.  God’s promise through Isaiah is that we need never need flounder without purposeful thoughts guiding us.  The LORD has gone before us into the future.  The LORD is behind us, a rear guard, protecting the weaker ones who could be left behind to face the enemy alone.  He gives us wisdom to know where to walk.  He frames our thoughts with divine perspective and peace.  Whether internal or external, His promises of parental care are relevant.

Oh, it’s possible to turn elsewhere for advice. King Saul, when under pressure, didn’t consult God and turned to a medium for guidance.  It was careless, sinful, and brought about his death. This is the time for each of us to press in to the God of the Ages for instruction.  Isaiah also said, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way.  Walk in it.”’  

God promises that we need never suffer the mindset of someone who went out in haste.  If you’ve ever left your house in a hurry, you know that you ended up not having what you needed.  Had there been deliberate planning, provisions would have been at your fingertips. Today, you and I are not fugitives on the run, scavenging to get our needs met.  We stop to breathe in the Spirit.  We look toward heaven and ask God to still our wildly beating hearts.  We ask Him to clothe us with the mind of Christ.  We look to His Word to illumine our next steps, to jump off the page with precise application.  If fragile emotionally, financially, and in any other way, Christ is gathering us from behind and keeping us together as His protected bride.  We are on course and are living for such a time as this.

Never have I been safer and more loved, Jesus.  Amen