Where is My Help Coming From?

Isaiah 30:1-3

1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;

² Who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
³ Therefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation.

Isaiah 31:1-3
¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!

 ² Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, and will not call back His words, but will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity.
³ Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; they all will perish together.

This is one of my favorite books in the bible—Isaiah. God used this book to get through to me many, many times. As I was reading one of the devotionals, I came about this scripture, and I realized that I have to share the importance of this passage. It is crucial to realize this principle because so many times, I, myself, went for help to my friends, family, instead of seeking His help first. In the Bible Egypt represents one`s “old sinful life”-slavery to sin where each one of us lived before we got saved. When someone relies on one`s old ways: old friends, old resources, one goes to “Egypt” for help; this is contrary to what God commands us to do.

If I am saved, I should have my faith on Him only because He would provide for me a way where there is no other way for He is Jahovah Jireh (Genesis 22:14). He provided a way for Abraham to bring an alternative sacrifice to his son Isaac, and He always provides a way when we see no way. He is Almighty God Who created heaven and earth. I don`t know how about you, but I don`t ever want to be in a situation where I rely on “Egypt”, or seek help place else aside from Him.

What this scripture is saying: Are you yielding to God your own will, so He could do what`s right and needed; or are you seeking your own will, and relying on Egypt because it`s the easiest and most rational thing for you to do?

When I faced the worst betrayal in my life, I wanted to find an easy formula to fix everything, and I would turn to the counselor, and to the pastor`s counseling, and to people, and to some “old friends”, but all that was vanity because it was seeking my own will, and not His will. The truth is, people (especially unsaved people) cannot advise you anything that`s Godly because they don`t know scripture, and Holy Spirit doesn`t abide inside their hearts. If the advice is not scripture based and rooted in God`s obedience, which would be to seek Him first, the advice would never be a blessing or produce any kind of positive effect in circumstances. The only way to get pass the afflictions is to surrender to His will all your circumstances and rely completely on what He would tell you to do. It took me almost nine months to realize that. It wasn`t until my pastor told me to seek Him first that I made that decision because I was hopeless, disillusioned, and I had nothing else to lose. By then I`ve tried everything else, and it didn`t work. There is no other easy formula for relationships, or for any other problems because only God can bind up the wounds (Psalm 147:3). I remember my frustration when I would come out of the counseling and hear nothing that God could really apply to my life because it was ungodly advice not rooted in His scripture or His will. It cost a lot of money too.

Do not rely on “Egypt” because God doesn`t bless us when we turn to the wrong resources and seek help place else instead of coming to Him first. “Egypt” may seem to you the most rational thing to do—“who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD” (verse 1), but that`s not what God`s will is. God wants all the glory, and when we turn to the worldly resources that seem most rational to us, we tell God that He is incapable to resolve my problem, and we rob Him of His glory. It could be that your pride doesn`t allow you to accept His will because it requires the sacrifice of laying down your life and surrendering yourself to Him too.

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny

 himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24 NKJV)

I chose to follow Jesus and took up my cross because I knew that He would bless me, and He does. God would never bless ungodly advice or something that contradicts His own words- Bible. I could either let Him beat me up some more with circumstances until He got what He needs from me—my life, or I could surrender to God and let Him use me to show His glory. That`s what I did, after almost 9 months of fighting with Him, I surrendered to His help instead of relying on those “strong horsemen” because they are vanity, the same ashes as me. God blessed me beyond my comprehension because He is faithful, and He is working through my circumstances now resolving all the problems. It required my sacrifice first, but His help is there, and He sustains me every day.

If you live your life relying on “Egypt” because there are “many chariots” and the “horsemen are strong”, I am challenging you today to rethink your priorities and turn to the main resource- God the Almighty, Who would bless you to no end. It would require a steep price on your part—your life and yielding your will to His, but it`s all worth it. I`ve been there, done it, and I am blessed!