The LORD told me to write down his message for his people, so that it would be there forever. They have turned against the LORD and can’t be trusted. They have refused his teaching and have said to his messengers and prophets:

Don’t tell us what God has shown you and don’t preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it’s false. Stop telling us what God has said! We don’t want to hear any more about the holy God of Israel.

Now this is the answer
of the holy God of Israel:

“You rejected my message,
and you trust in violence
and lies.
This sin is like a crack
that makes a high wall
quickly crumble and shatter
like a crushed bowl.
There’s not a piece left

big enough to carry hot coals
or to dip out water.” (Isaiah 30:8-14)

People rarely want to know God’s will, just as they really don’t want to know the future. Sure, they’d like to know that in the future they will be rich and famous. But they don’t want to be told about the failed relationships that are yet to come, the illnesses that will be endured, the financial hardships that will keep them up at night with worry. Likewise, people fear that God’s will for them will mean that they will wind up living in a hut somewhere on the Amazon, preaching in a foreign language. People don’t want the truth. They want what makes them feel good today. People who ask for advice usually just want approval for whatever it is they have decided to do.

But God points out that rejecting his message means a self-betrayal: the consequence of going one’s own way instead of God’s way is inevitably disastrous. Not only does God love his people, he also knows what they really want and what will really make them happy—and that’s what he’ll give them. A child might think a pony is ultimate joy, but in a one room apartment, it’s not really what’s best for either the child or the pony. But God loves you more than you love yourself. Sadly, few people really believe that.

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