Trying to plug up the holes

So often we look at our lives, and we see the mess we’ve made of it.  Maybe it’s in our marriages.  Or in our other relationships.  Or in our finances.  And so we set out to plug up the holes in our lives. 

But every time we plug up one hole, another leak springs up, and as a result our boat continues to sink.

That’s how it was with the people of Judah.  In this passage, they saw a siege coming, so they tried to do everything they could to prepare.  Almost everything.

They gathered their weapons, they tried to repair the breaches in the wall, and they made sure water could come into the city, while blocking it off from their enemies.

But while they did all that, they failed to deal with their biggest problem:  their sin.

Isaiah wrote,

The Lord, the Lord Almighty called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.  (Isaiah 22:12)

In other words, the reason God allowed the Assyrians to attack was to get the people to turn back to him.  To repent of their sins and start worshiping him again. 

But instead, they continued in their sinful ways, saying, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.”  (13)

Whether that was said in mockery of Isaiah’s warnings, or in resignation, the result was the same.  The people refused to turn back to God, and so God said,

Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for.  (14)

What do we take from this?  It’s all well and good to see the problems in your life, and to try to deal with them. 

But our biggest problem is an attitude of rebellion against God.  And until we deal with that problem, leaks will continue to spring up in our lives.  And eventually we will sink.

So let us stop trying to plug up the holes in our lives by our own wisdom and efforts, and turn to God.  Repent of your sins, and start doing things his way. 

If you will do so, not only will you find that your boat has stopped sinking, but that your boat will be made completely new, capable of navigating any problem you might go through.