Anyhow

Isaiah 64:8-9 New Century Version (NCV)

⁸ But Lord, you are our FATHER.
    We are like clay, and you are the POTTER;
    YOUR hands made us all.
⁹ Lord, don’t continue to be angry with us;
    don’t remember our sins forever.
Please, look at us,
    because we are YOUR people. (In the original, the words in bold green are written in lower-case black. I chose to put them in all caps and as is muy usual custom, I placed my comments in bright green.) 

 

They laughed at her for forgiveness, praying

She said, "Faithful to GOD, I'm staying."

And she prayed anyhow.

They mocked her for her piety

In the midst of her battle fray

And for not being a part of their "society"

But she was pious anyhow.

They whispered behind her back

Snickered at the things that she lacked

And made her work hard to do

But she kept on working anyhow.

When she tried and failed

They laughed without mercy

But she continued to try anyhow

Just like a well-tended pot

She continued to boil

Because she knew that one day

She would no longer have to toil

- The day when the POTTER would say

"Enough! Reward my servant with grandiose pay."©

********

(Based on Isaiah 65:7-14, 17-25.)

 

Yes, sometimes to do right is to be a target. But we have already been warned. The thing that we have to do is keep going because GOD sees, knows, cares, and has the last laugh.

Isaiah 65:10-14 and 17-25New Century Version (NCV)

 

¹⁰ Then the Plain of Sharon will be a field for flocks,
    and the Valley of Achor will be a place for herds to rest.
    They will be for the people who want to follow me.

¹¹ “But as for you who left the Lord,
    who forgot about my holy mountain,
who worship the god Luck,
    who hold religious feasts for the god Fate,
¹² I decide your fate, and I will punish you with my sword.
    You will all be killed,
because I called you, but you refused to answer.
    I spoke to you, but you wouldn’t listen.
You did the things I said were evil
    and chose to do things that displease me.”

¹³ So this is what the Lord God says:

“My servants will eat,
but you evil people will be hungry.
My servants will drink,
but you evil people will be thirsty.
My servants will be happy,
but you evil people will be shamed.
¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy
because of the goodness of their hearts,
but you evil people will cry,
because you will be sad.
You will cry loudly, because your spirits will be broken...

¹⁷ “Look, I will make new heavens and a new earth,
and people will not remember the past
or think about those things.
¹⁸ My people will be happy forever
because of the things I will make.
I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,
and I will make her people a delight.
¹⁹ Then I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and be delighted with my people.
There will never again be heard in that city
the sounds of crying and sadness.
²⁰ There will never be a baby from that city
who lives only a few days.
And there will never be an older person
who doesn’t have a long life.
A person who lives a hundred years will be called young,
and a person who dies before he is a hundred will be thought of as a sinner.
²¹ In that city those who build houses will live there.
Those who plant vineyards will get to eat their grapes.
²² No more will one person build a house and someone else live there.
One person will not plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit.
My people will live a long time,
as trees live long.
My chosen people will live there
and enjoy the things they make.
²³ They will never again work for nothing.
They will never again give birth to children who die young.
All my people will be blessed by the Lord;
they and their children will be blessed.
²⁴ I will provide for their needs before they ask,
and I will help them while they are still asking for help.
²⁵ Wolves and lambs will eat together in peace.
Lions will eat hay like oxen,
and a snake on the ground will not hurt anyone.
They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

Be safe and keep praying.