There are seasons when we become painfully aware of everything in our lives that still needs to change. We see the places that feel dry, the things we wish we had done differently, the prayers still waiting for an answer—and almost instinctively, we begin asking ourselves what we must do to make things right.
But Isaiah 43 gives us a very different picture.
Again and again, God draws our attention away from what we can accomplish and back to who He is:
“I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
Isaiah 43:15
These words were spoken to Israel, and there is something especially meaningful about reading them here in the land today. The God who called Israel, gathered His people, and promised restoration is the same God whose faithfulness we continue to depend upon. And through Yeshua, we discover that His character—His mercy, His creative power and His faithfulness—speaks deeply into our own lives as well.
There is a beautiful truth here to carry with us into Shabbat: our hope begins not with what we can do for God, but with what He has already determined to do.
Isaiah 43 is filled with the language of restoration. God speaks of gathering His people, making a way through the wilderness, bringing rivers into the desert and causing what was dry to live again. Then He reminds Israel who stands behind every promise:
“I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
The Hebrew word Kadosh means Holy One, and the language Isaiah uses for Creator takes us back to the creative power of God revealed in Genesis. The One who created in the beginning is not limited by what already exists. He can bring forth something new. He can take a wilderness and send water through it. He can take what appears finished and write another chapter.
Then God tells Israel something remarkable:
“This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.”
Isaiah 43:21
God formed Israel for Himself and for His glory. And through Yeshua, there is also something deeply personal here for everyone who belongs to Him. Your life is not without purpose. You were not created merely to survive whatever circumstances come your way.
Isaiah uses the Hebrew word tehillah—praise. When we tell of God’s faithfulness, remember His goodness and allow our lives to become testimonies of what He has done, we are living for something greater than ourselves.
But then Isaiah brings us to perhaps the most tender words in the chapter:
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Isaiah 43:25
In Hebrew, the verse begins Anochi, Anochi—I, I Myself.
There is tremendous emphasis in those words. God brings our attention back to Himself: I am the One who does this.
Forgiveness begins in His heart. Mercy is not something we have to wrestle unwillingly from God; it flows from who He is. And through Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, the way of forgiveness and reconciliation with God has been opened to us.
Perhaps that is the word you need to hear as you enter Shabbat.
You may be looking at a wilderness and wondering how anything can grow there again. You may be looking at something from your past that you cannot undo, a situation you cannot repair in your own strength, or a future you cannot yet see clearly.
We naturally look at ourselves and ask, What can I do? How can I fix this? How will I make a way?
Yet throughout this chapter, God keeps drawing our eyes back to the same answer:
Anochi. I Myself.
The Creator is still able to create. The One who made a way through the wilderness is still able to make a way. The One who forgives is still eager to show mercy.
This is one of the beautiful gifts of Shabbat. We stop. We lay down, even for a little while, the exhausting belief that everything depends upon us. We remember who God is and who we are.
He is the Creator. He is King. He is faithful.
And we can praise Him not because everything in our lives has already been resolved, but because His faithfulness has never depended upon our circumstances.
So perhaps this Shabbat, you do not need another reminder of everything that still needs to be fixed. Perhaps you need the reminder God gave Israel through Isaiah: the God who created is still creating, the God who called is still faithful, and the God who forgives has not changed.
When we reach the end of what we can do, His answer still brings our eyes back to Him:
“Anochi, Anochi—I Myself.”
Shabbat Shalom and Blessings,
Pastor Israel Pochtar