Finding Your Way

If I were to paraphrase Isaiah chapter 58 in one sentence, it would be something like,

“You need to evaluate your practices and discern what is pointless versus what is actually conducive to the truth of God blossoming in your lives.”

Roughly speaking, that is the context of the quote which came to mind recently (from 58:8),

“Your righteousness will go before you, and the LORD’s glory will be your rear guard.”

Basically, this is a good thing which will happen when you put away what is spiritually ineffective and embrace what is conducive to the blossoming of the truth. So, there is other context, but I recently had this thought about it:

What is a way for righteousness to ‘go before you’?  Speak things which are good and true.

This is important because, in a time of uncertainty, you have no other option than to lean upon those things which you know to be true. By doing so, you forge a path and create order in the perceived chaos. On that subject, I also remembered a quote from psychology professor Jordan B. Peterson:

“The fundamental rule when operating in chaos is, ‘tell the truth’.”

It seems like a small and simple act, relative to how daunting the uncertainty is, but even if nothing else is certain, and you don’t know what else to do, speak the things you know to be true, and trust the LORD to be your rear guard. I am tempted to paraphrase “the LORD will be your rear guard” as ‘the LORD will cover your ass’, which in my mind means the LORD will cover, or take care of what you can’t see with your own eyes, or essentially, what you can’t understand with your own rational capacity right now.

especially when that action is the only thing you have, but I would like to think that action is like an image of the Divine Logos when God spoke over the formless and empty earth (Genesis 1:2-3).

Telling the truth seems like a small action when it’s all you have.

Even if nothing else is certain, and you don’t know what else to do, speak the things you know to be true, and trust the LORD to be your rear guard. I am tempted to paraphrase “the LORD will be your rear guard” as ‘the LORD will cover your ass’, which in my mind means the LORD will cover, or take care of what you can’t see with your own eyes, or essentially, what you can’t understand with your own rational capacity right now.