God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man

As I’m studying through Isaiah this morning, this passage hit home. It’s Is 17:9-12 (NLT):

⁹ Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest,
like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned^[a]
when the Israelites came here so long ago.
It will be utterly desolate.
¹⁰ Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you.
You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you.
So you may plant the finest grapevines
and import the most expensive seedlings.
¹¹ They may sprout on the day you set them out;
yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them,
but you will never pick any grapes from them.
Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.

¹² Listen! The armies of many nations
roar like the roaring of the sea.
Hear the thunder of the mighty forces
as they rush forward like thundering waves.
¹³ But though they thunder like breakers on a beach,
God will silence them, and they will run away.
They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind,
like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm.
¹⁴ In the evening Israel waits in terror,
but by dawn its enemies are dead.
This is the just reward of those who plunder us,
a fitting end for those who destroy us.

As I was reading this and meditating on it, I immediately thought of the VeggieTale video above. God is bigger than the boogie man!

Verses 9-11 is a warning of the nation trying to do everything on our their, making their own deals, and living our life on their own. The Israelites made treaties with foreign nations, to try to protect them. They let go of God to try to solve their problems on their own. And it cost them. Dearly.

We just were not designed to live life that way. We were not designed to carry the load. We were designed to lay the load on the one who created us.

And because of that we get scared. We fear. Fight or Flight becomes real. And we make decisions in the middle of the chaos that betray our design. But we were not designed that way!

Here’s the truth of the chaos: The nations cry. Chaos thunders. They sound like the big bad wolf. But compared to the creator, the one who designed us and made us, they are nothing. When God stands between us and the chaos, they scatter and flee. They run away. They go quiet.

Fear is very real. But God is bigger than the fear that presents itself before us. It’s a paper tiger in reality. When we listen to our creator and let him fight for us, nothing stands a chance. Not even death.

At night we may wait for terror. But by morning, it’s all gone. Why? God is bigger than the boogie man. And joy comes in the morning.

Do not fear! Let God fight for you!