Wed.'s Devo - To No Avail

Read Isa. 30:1-17
Sennacherib and the Assyrians are threatening to attack Judah and instead of turning to the Lord for help, they go to the Egyptians. Egypt always represents bondage and oppression. Didn't they live there under adverse treatment from the Egyptians for 400 years until God raised up Moses to deliver them? And now they want to go back. Isaiah warns them that trusting in Egypt will be to their shame and Egypt's defense will only bring confusion. Verse 6 describes the Judeans sending donkeys and camels, loaded with gifts to pay the Egyptians to help them - all to no avail. They endured the snake-infested desert to get there - all to no avail. Going back to our comfort zones will only be stepping back - never forward and it will be...to no avail. Instead of trusting in a perverse nation like Egypt all they had to do was to return to the Lord and rest in his strength. Our temptation is to do something when we are backed against a wall. God's way is to trust in him and do nothing unless he says to. That is the hardest thing for us to do....nothing. God says, "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength". But Judah wouldn't turn to the Lord, so he made them to be an example for all to see what happens when they don't turn to Him.
Lord, we put our confidence in you and will try not to move until you tell us to.