“So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart” (Isaiah 42:25, ESV).
The mind of the dead is unable to see and understand root causes. He believes Y is the problem behind why Z has happened. She thinks all we need to do is change Y or discard it, then the problem with Z will be resolved.
The reality is that the reason we are having the problem with Z is because a more fundamental problem exists. Y is only a manifestation of a deeper issue. The problem is not Y, X, or even W, but deeper. It goes all the way back to A.
Israel was not set ablaze because he did not properly appease Baal. It was not because this or that king made a bad economic decision. It had nothing to do with a bad social policy or legal decision that occurred a few years before. And it definitely had nothing to do with Babylon having a stronger army. Of course, the politicians, journalists, academicians, scientists, and media outlets blamed these things; they saw the problem at Y.
God’s wrath came because of something deeper, something foundational.
Do not be surprised when the world says Y is the problem, attempts to revise Y, fails again, and assumes what will be will be. Z exists today because of a much deeper matter–one that we have to address as we speak the greatest news ever.
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Would you be interested in reviewing a pre-release copy of my new book To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation for your blog, journal, podcast, or Amazon? Contact me at jpayne@brookhills.org .