“In that day he will cry out, ‘I have no remedy for this mess!’” Isaiah 3:7
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet my friend’s child for the first time. She was less than two weeks old.
My traveling lifestyle often leaves me to rely on FaceTime and photos for a while, before getting the opportunity to meet any of my friend’s children face-to-face. In some cases it has been years before our paths align geographically and even right now, there is a friend that will have two new faces for me to meet by the time that we see each other again!
However, it wasn’t just the rarity factor that made it such a special visit for me. I had the opportunity to see my friend in full newborn, new mom mode. This particular friend and I had met nearly four years ago in a young adults church group. Though four years doesn’t really equate to a ‘lifelong’ friend quite yet, it has been incredible to be a witness of her journey during this time. From doing Bible studies together in our shared season of singleness, to standing by her side as she said “I do” last year, to sitting in the living room of her new home and observing as she looked in the eyes of her new baby girl a few weeks ago … how could I not just be in awe. Though surely exhausted, my friend exhibited pure joy.
At one point in time during my visit, her baby began to fuss ever so slightly. My friend tried a few remedies to no avail and as the fussing continued, she simply said, “I hear you. I just don’t quite know what you want.”
When we encounter a problem in life, it can be frustrating. We would all love to live the problem-free, seamless life, wouldn’t we? Instead, we encounter the problem, adjust or fix it to the best of our abilities, and then carry on.
But what about when we encounter a problem that is seemingly without a remedy? That can be all the more frustrating.
The fussiness of my friend’s child faded off after a few minutes, but from other mom accounts, I am well aware that sometime that fuss turns into an all out scream and there is seemingly nothing that can be done to console the chaos.
Perhaps you have experienced this exact thing as a parent. Or maybe you have been presented with another problem in which you didn’t have the capability to help.
I remember walking to work a few years ago when I passed a guy who had pulled off the main road and into this small parking lot. I noticed his hospital uniform as he got out of the car and looked at his flat tire in unbelief and panic. He quickly opened the back of his truck and rummaged to uncover his spare tire and the carjack. Quickly assessing the time and the safety of the situation, I walked over to offer some help.
Well, if I walked up to that man today, I would be able to share the abundance of tire-changing knowledge that I have gained between then and now, but that was not the case. Unfortunately for that man, I was absolutely useless in helping him figure out how to use his carjack. My offer to help him turned into a rather embarrassing way to start my day, and I’m sure it left him wishing for someone a little more helpful to walk by the next time. Though I wish that I could have been some sort of assistance, I had no remedy for his problem.
In chapter three of the book of Isaiah we read, “Behold-Yahweh, the Sovereign One, the Commander of Angel Armies, is about to cut off from Jerusalem and Judah every source of their support and security, including all food supplies and water. He will remove their heroes and soldiers, prophets and judges, their fortune-tellers and statesmen, their respected military leaders, pillars of community, their counselors, skilled craftsmen, and those professional charmers. I will make inexperienced youth their rulers, and children will govern them. Everyone will take advantage of everyone else, and neighbor will struggle against neighbor. The youth will not respect their elders, and the dishonorable will sneer at those worthy of honor. One man will even seize a relative right in his father’s house and say, ‘At least you own a coat; you be our leader! You can oversee this heap of ruins!’ In that day he will cry out, ‘I have no remedy for this mess! I don’t have any food or clothes either, so don’t make me your leader!’” (Verses 1-7, TPT).
“I have no remedy for this mess.” When I read through this passage my mind was frozen on these seven words.
My friend’s child is certainly not a mess, but I have to think that if there is an inconsolable screaming child in my future, I will want to say, “I have no remedy for you!” Likewise, I walked away from that man with a flat tire thinking “I have no remedy for your tire.”
In the book of Isaiah, we see that God strips away every source of support and security. Yet rather than turning to the Lord, the people throw the reigns of leadership to someone else. Someone unprepared. Someone ill-equipped. Someone incapable.
Someone who screams, “I have no remedy for this mess!”
I think about our world today. I look around and see so much brokenness and the ripple effects of this brokenness. Are we really all that different than those from the book of Isaiah? Are we continuing to turn to the people or the things that have no remedy for this mess? Are we turning to everyone and everything except for the one true Remedy?
Friends, we don’t have to sit here and day after day be led to scream, “I have no remedy for this mess!” Let us not be defeated.
We are living in a world broken by the sin of man and we have access to the one and only Remedy; the Lord Jesus Christ.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Jesus wasn’t just the remedy the day that He hung from the cross. Jesus isn’t just our remedy today or tomorrow. Jesus is our eternal remedy.
Though we may encounter situations in which we have no remedies, such as with a crying baby or a flat tire, we never have to be overwhelmed with hopelessness in the face of eternity.
It is because of Christ that we may enter into an eternal relationship with our Father in heaven. It is through Him that we will dwell in the presence of our Lord forevermore. It is in Christ we have victory over the brokenness of this world and it is in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior that we have a remedy; the only remedy that we need.
Let us rejoice today in saying, “I have a remedy for this mess!”
