August 21, 2023 • Life for Leaders
Scripture — Isaiah 40:8 (NRSV)
The grass withers; the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Focus
In a culture permeated by cynicism, it’s hard to trust anyone or anything. So often that in which we put our confidence fails like withering grass. According to Isaiah 40, however, “the word of our God will stand forever.” We can put our trust in God’s truth, allowing it to guide all that we do in life.
Devotion
It’s harder and harder to trust these days. Partly, this is due to the epidemic of cynicism that plagues our society. But our cynicism comes as the institutions and individuals we once counted on turn out to be untrustworthy. Yet, even in our cynical age, there is something in us that looks, even yearns for something truly reliable, something that we can truly count on.
Isaiah 40:8 identifies this “something.” It is the “word of our God,” that which will “stand forever.” The divine word contrasts with the transitory character of nature. In the right season and especially after a rain, grass looks brilliantly green. But in a time of drought or during winter, grass withers, turning straw-like and apparently lifeless. The same is true of flowers. They may look gorgeous, but before long they fall to the ground and lose their colorful beauty.
The word of God is not like this. It endures. God’s proclamations can be trusted. God’s promises are secure. What God says, God will do. Thus, we can put our trust in God’s word, confident that it will always be there to guide every facet of our lives.
In times of financial uncertainty, we can see our investments withering. The good health of our loved ones, and even of ourselves, will ultimately fade. Trusted institutions will falter or fail. People will let us down. That which we most love in this world won’t last, no matter how good it might be. Yet God will always be there for us. God’s word will never let us down. It is something we can really count on.
Reflect
How have you recently experienced the withering and fading of life?
Are you tempted to put your confidence in things that don’t last?
What helps you to trust God’s word as revealed in Scripture?
Act
Think about how God’s word in Scripture informs your daily work and leadership.
Pray
Gracious God, today we’re reminded about the transitory nature of life. We see it in the natural world around us. We feel it in our own bodies. And we read it in Scripture. The things of this world won’t last, but you will. And your word will.
O Lord, help us to enjoy the rich blessings of this life, including the greenness of the grass and the brightness of the flowers. But may we not put our confidence in that which will not last. Help us to know your word, to meditate upon it, and to trust it. Thank you for the simple truth that your word stands forever. Amen.
Banner image by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Some Things Deserve to Be Repeated.
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Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and the founder of the De Pree Center’s Flourishing in the Third Third of Life Initiative. Previously, Mark was the Executive Director of the De Pree Center, the lead pastor of a church in Southern California, and the Senior Director of Laity Lodge in Texas. He has written eight books, dozens of articles, and over 2,500 devotions that help people discover the difference God makes in their daily life and leadership. With a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard, Mark teaches at Fuller Seminary, most recently in his D.Min. cohort on “Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation.” Mark is married to Linda, a marriage and family counselor, spiritual director, and executive coach. Their two grown children are educators on the high school and college level.
More Like This
Thanks so much for all of the devotions and resources. I began thinking longer about this passage as I am confronted often by this thought or thoughts on passages like this. Do you see it as a confirmation that what we know today as the Scriptures being “the word of God” or is this verse descriptive of the actual words we find in scripture that are God’s words. To me there is a difference. I do not believe god suddenly one day became a deaf mute. That he no longer speaks. That the only place we hear the “Words(plural) of God” are in our Bible. which leads into what translation is actually validated to be THE Word of God. Today, it seems to me that god speaks to us through his Spirit mainly. Whether through a whisper as we read Scripture, as we converse with him in prayer, or some days I have felt the Spirit speak in a dream. Some days I think honestly it is closer to a yell than a whisper as I can be spiritually hard of hearing. Just some thoughts of a rural pastor as I read these great devotionals.