Isaiah 55:10 – “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, making it bear and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater”…AMP
Some of my favorite passages in the Bible are in regards to the truth of what God has to say about His word. We all know people who we consider, to be honest, and those we consider to be dishonest. But even the most honest person we know doesn’t have the track record that God has. God says what He means and means what He says. When it looks like the Word doesn’t work, we need to check out other scenarios for what really is happening!
Isaiah 55:11 states:
“So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, let us in on the secret of heaven. When He speaks, His words are not idle. When they leave His mouth, they accomplish what He sends them to accomplish. God didn’t say that it happens some of the time, He said it prospers in the thing for which He sent it.
I am sure this is a familiar verse to you, but have you read it in the Amplified Bible?
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me void (useless, without result), Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 AMP
The Amplified version helps us to understand what God had to say about the reliability of His word!
A natural example of this is the water cycle. I am working on the water cycle with my students and as I was sharing that the water cycle has no beginning and no end because it is cyclical, I was reminded of Isaiah 55.
“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, Making it bear and sprout, And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater…
Isaiah 55:10 AMP
God compares the water cycle to His word. We can all remember how we learned about the water cycle in elementary school. The atmosphere always has water in it. Because 75% of the earth’s surface is covered in water, this is easy to comprehend. Twice God separated the water from the Earth’s surface: during creation and after the flood. So there is a lot of water.
The water cycle is simple: The water in the atmosphere causes clouds to form. Those clouds release precipitation on the surface of the Earth in the form of rain, sleet, hail, or snow. The land is watered producing fruit, then it evaporates into the atmosphere and returns to the heavens, repeating the cycle. This natural occurrence is a forever reminder to the people of God that His word is fluid, never changing, yet always producing fruit! Always in motion, always constant!
Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Psalm 148:8 NKJV
Isn’t that a beautiful picture to help us to conceptualize the dependability of His word? Every drop of precipitation fulfilling His word! Every single word is being fulfilled.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Matthew 24:35 NKJV
I thought of Joab after I thought of the water cycle. He’s not liked by a lot of people, and for good reasons. But Joab served David, in most ways, like the word serves God. Whatever David’s desire was, Joab saw it done. David counted on Joab to accomplish things that seemed impossible, yet he figured that if it could be done, Joab was the man for the job. Now remember, Joab in some ways is a natural picture of the word in operation, not a complete picture. But he got the job done!
God’s word is much more effective in getting things done than Joab was. God said that when He sends His word, His desires are accomplished! Joshua spoke of the faithfulness of God’s word to the children of Israel:
“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
Joshua 23:14 NKJV
Joshua knew that his time was coming to an end. He had served the Lord with Moses, leading the people in war. Then he took over as the leader of the people of Israel and led them into the promised land. He didn’t have a perfect life, and things didn’t always go well with him, but he was absolutely convinced that God’s word had been faithful to the children of Israel. As a matter of fact, he said not a single word of all that God had said to them, had failed to come to pass.
On the day that Solomon finished building the temple and the ark of the covenant was brought into the temple, he began to pray. After praying, he stood before the people and said:
“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
1 Kings 8:56 NKJV
That’s not our testimony! We look over life and feel as if we can find various ways in which God has not been faithful to uphold His word to us. We, in essence, call Him a liar. But He is not a liar! He shared these words with Balaam to share with Balak when Balak wanted to curse the children of Israel:
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Numbers 23:19 NKJV
has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Doesn’t this circle back to Isaiah 55? God said that if He said something, He will do it! When He speaks a thing, He will make it good! And we can trust Him because He is not a liar! Jesus confirmed this truth when He said:
You are of your father the devil…When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
John 8:44 NKJV
God is not a liar! The devil is a liar and the father of lies! God gave of His word in the form of the Bible so that we can learn to trust in Him and His word. He left examples in the heavens and the earth to remind us of the faithfulness of His word: the water cycle! His Word is so valuable and so much a part of Him, He sent His Word:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NKJV
God spoke these words to Jeremiah:
“You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”
Jeremiah 1:12 NKJV
A more literal translation of this verse states that God is watching to perform His word. I’m preaching to myself today! I have been challenged this week to continue to trust His word to me because it won’t return to Him void. I share this with you in hopes that you will also challenge yourself to trust His Word like never before! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 