#soap # Isaiah 44 ## Title: God Uses Unlikely Sources ## Scripture: (Isaiah 44:28) “who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd to carry out all my wishes and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’” (NET) ## Observation: There are an infinite number of ways God can use various things to do what needs done in our lives. There are just as many reasons why we won’t understand what or why He does it that way. The bottom line is we know God is working, even when He does things in a way we would not have chosen. I heard a story one time of two ladies who lived side by side in a subdivision. One was a devout Christian and the other was a devout atheist. For some reason, the Christian was struggling financially and did not know how she was going to buy groceries for the following week. For three days, she prayed and asked God for help. The atheist overheard the prayers and became frustrated. She said, “I’ll go buy her groceries and show her it wasn’t her God that did it. It was me.” So, she went and spent more than she should’ve at the store. She wanted to really rub it in. Later that day, she showed up with twenty bags of groceries. It was more than enough for the Christian to eat for a month! After getting all the groceries into the house, the atheist said, “See, I bought all those groceries because I heard you praying. What do you think now?” The Christian smiled and said, “God bought me groceries and used the devil’s money to pay for it.” In this passage, God says He will use a pagan king to rebuild Jerusalem. He has a way of getting things done through unlikely sources. ## Application: Don’t ask why God uses the strangest sources. Just rejoice in Him. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for always making a way.