The Word of the Lord

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8) 
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​So often it can be easy to think our faith would be so much stronger had we lived during the time of the disciples, had we seen Jesus himself in person and witnessed all the miracles he performed.  Yet seeing is not always believing, just look at Judas.  He was there.  He saw.  He did not believe.  Thus, Peter tells us we should not be envious of those who were with Jesus during his earthly ministry, those who saw him and touched him.  In 2 Peter 1:17-18, Peter recounts how he was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and how he heard the voice of God the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  But then he quickly states that we, living in the 21st century, have something even more certain than that.  We have “the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place…knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  In other words, the Word of God is to be trusted more and is more reliable than our experiences or emotions.  Experiences can be deceiving.  Emotions can be misleading.  But God’s word remains true and trustworthy and steadfast.  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).