#soap # Isaiah 45 ## Title: God Is Not Trying to Hurt You ## Scripture: (Isaiah 45:19) “I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements.” (NET) ## Observation: Sometimes we inadvertently get God and Santa Claus mixed up. We think that, if God is omnipotent and benevolent, He should always do what I perceive as good. Goodness is not always universally objective because our ability to see all things is not complete. If we could see all things like God does, then goodness could be completely objective. Just like the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so is goodness. Just because we think God is not good according to our standards, does not mean it is true. In this passage, God is saying that He is not going to tell you to do something or allow you to go through something that is unattainable or impossible. This is true in our lives. God is not trying to bring you unnecessary pain. He has a purpose for all things. Some of these things will not be fully understood until eternity, but there will be a day when we will understand and praise God for doing it that way. ## Application: Trust the Lord. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for always being trustworthy.