in all things... even nakedness.

we have been looking at a naked friend, and i need to let you know a pleasant little secret, one that you might not have ever caught if you just read the verse we are diving into. let's refresh our memory first.

Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked

and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,

in the days of prophets there was another language that people had. it's kinda weird, but those three years that it looks like Isaiah walked naked, were actually not three years, but maybe 3 days symbolically showing three years,  nor was he completely naked. searching out the what he was actually wearing has taken some time and energy, but i think i know now, that it's not important. nor is the time he was naked. it's just details in a bigger story. and that's where the hidden treasure lies, there beneath these rocks of this true story.

I don't know if Isaiah and King Hezekiah were besties and hung out at the local malt shop. That is just pure speculation on my part, but when King Hezzy was sick and in bed, Prophet Izzy came into his bedroom to tell him "to get your house in order your going to die." so i just think that it might be safe to assume that if your close enough to have an open door to your bedroom with a person, it's a pretty good bet you are friends.

so, here's Prophet Izzy hearing from God that his friend the King is being tempted to trust in something other than God.. and Prophet Izzy steps up to the plate and says.. "no Satan, you are NOT going to get this man, and as God is my helper. I'll do anything I am able to do to show him that he's worth the fight."  That meant, yes, he would have to obey God, for the sake of his friend no matter what seemingly crazy thing that God would have him do.

Prophet Isaiah put himself in a very compromising situation. If in fact, it was just three days instead of three years. He looked like a slave, a captive. All for the glory of God to shine through him so that his friend could see Truth,  a Truth that he didn't know he needed to hear, until he really needed the knowledge that God is trustworthy. all. the. time.

and i'm pretty sure that if King Hezzy was a good friend to Prophet Isaiah.. he would have done all in his power to cover him up! "Get some clothes on!"  he might have even been a bit mortified and wanted to run away from his naked friend and hide.. after all, we are a direct reflection of our choice in friends to those on the "outside!"

Am i willing to be that friend? to do anything and everything i can through a God who loves me so very much and is absolutly trustworthy?  to do anything and everything through God to help a friend realize that HE loves, accepts and is worth following 100%?  there is a bigger picture that no one can see right now.. i'm trusting in a trustworthy God that that picture will become clear, sooner rather than later, and that we all will see it.

be blessed my sweet readers YOU are loved by a great and mighty God who is totally trustworthy in all things.

blown away!

Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years 

as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,

today i have to step back and tell you something that i'm still in awe about.  remember last Friday's post about a naked friend? Well, turns out that all the commentaries and speculations point to the Prophet Isaiah having to be naked to help his friend and fellow countrymen trust in God at a crucial time. 

I'm totally not making this up. seriously..  Isaiah's friend was, drum roll please....  King Hezikiah!! 

I was NOT expecting King Hezikiah to show up in the Psalms, and I was even less expecting him to show up in a random verse about Isaiah being naked. i'm blown away.  so, there is treasure here for us all i'm sure of it!

i'm still lost in studying the details, but the view from 1000 feet above is that the three years before King Hezikiah went into battle and "struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watch tower to fortified city" 2 Kings 18:8; were the three years that Isaiah walked naked and barefoot. He did this to show people what they would become if they didn't trust 100% in God to help them and if they did trust in something else besides God... they would become slaves, in every sense of the word. 

that's a pretty extreme thing for a friend to do for a friend don't you think?  God's plan and purpose in Isaiah walking around in practically his birthday suit for three years for his friend does have practical insight for us today... i just can't tell you what that is today.. there is just so much here and i think i have to keep it slow and simple to really digest all the things that God would have for us. hope that's ok with you! 

God is good and faithful to show us what we need each day. He loves you so much he wrote a book for you!! I encourage you to read it! it just might blow you away!!!!!

i found a naked friend.

 Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot

 for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, Isaiah 20:3

 3 years?? Holy Smokes! 

 Must have been pretty important!  

and what's the word portent even mean?

and where is Cush?

what were people doing that they needed a sign? 

Isaiah was seriously naked for 3 years??

 oh my goodness i wonder so much about our friend in this little verse.

what if it was a cold day? 

did people giggle as he walked by? 

was he actually totally naked? 

did Isaiah question God when he heard "take your clothes off and don't put them back on for 3 years?"

ohhh so many questions. 

I'm planning on finding out all i can about this incident and what we can praise God for.. cuz you know God asks some pretty weird things of his followers sometimes.. but he totally has us covered.. literally! 

stick around, we can learn together! 

have a blessed weekend my sweet readers. Know that God loves you so very very much even if he apparently asks you to do silly and incomprehensible things sometimes!!! it's ALL worth it!!! I promise! 

on this day in 1938.

It was a moment in time that just happened. you look at that exact moment and wonder if you really would remember it in years to come.  It's like the "where were you when the challenger blew up?" conversations and then years later of course the "where were you when the towers were hit?" Questions that no doubt, when answered, evoke a deep emotion regardless of the "where were you?" question.

I will never get asked "where were you?" when this event happened on this day in 1938.  I'd like to say that i was there. Listening. Taking it all in. Remembering. Giving Thanks.

Today, i owe all my allegiance to a God that saw to it that this great country we call America stands tall. I'm so very grateful to those who fought long ago, and to those who are still fighting today for the freedoms that I so often take for granted. It's these thoughts that I would have thought, while I probably dried a tear or two during this "where were you?" moment.

A moment that is replayed over and over again, in honor of the few, the proud and the bravest among us. I'm honored to know a few...and i love you all. The memories and or realities that you no doubt live with everyday are far greater than any "where were you?" moments in my life. 

Today, on Veterans Day. I salute you and what you gave up to help make the country i live in safe and secure...May God Bless America.



 November 11, 1938. Kate Smith sang "God Bless America" for the very first time. It would later become her signature song. Irving Berlin penned the tune in 1917 but never released it until Miss Smith sang it for the first time on her radio broadcast.