Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Ladders.  We talk about “climbing the ladder,” step by step to success at the top.  Sometimes, however, when we finally reach the top we discover our ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.  Ugh.

Who or what are we leaning on as we put one foot in front of the other?  Where are we going?  How will we know when we get there?  We need direction, wisdom, and confidence.  Who is that in our lives today?  Who do we count on because of the power we think they have?  What do give up in order to have what the “powerful” say we should have to be like them?  These are all questions that each one of us need to answer in order to know, without a doubt, who we are leaning on for life or death.

God who told Israel exactly what to do to be safe while He cleansed the land of wickedness.  But instead, Israel leaned on Egypt for help to survive.  Their ladder of pride in going with their own plan crumbled as it was leaning on the wrong wall for protection, provision, and ultimate survival.  God will show them again what His best is for them through “fresh hope and deliverance.” That’s who God is—lean on Him!

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms…

Ezekiel 29, The Message

Never a World Power Again

^1-6 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day, God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, confront Pharaoh king of Egypt. Preach against him and all the Egyptians. Tell him, ‘God, the Master, says:

“‘Watch yourself, Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
    I’m dead set against you,
You lumbering old dragon,
    lolling and flaccid in the Nile,
Saying, “It’s my Nile.
    I made it. It’s mine.”
I’ll set hooks in your jaw;
    I’ll make the fish of the Nile stick to your scales.
I’ll pull you out of the Nile,
    with all the fish stuck to your scales.
Then I’ll drag you out into the desert,
    you and all the Nile fish sticking to your scales.
You’ll lie there in the open, rotting in the sun,
    meat to the wild animals and carrion birds.
Everybody living in Egypt
    will realize that I am God.

^6-9 “‘Because you’ve been a flimsy reed crutch to Israel so that when they gripped you, you splintered and cut their hand, and when they leaned on you, you broke and sent them sprawling—Message of God, the Master—I’ll bring war against you, do away with people and animals alike, and turn the country into an empty desert so they’ll realize that I am God.

^9-11 “‘Because you said, “It’s my Nile. I made it. It’s all mine,” therefore I am against you and your rivers. I’ll reduce Egypt to an empty, desolate wasteland all the way from Migdol in the north to Syene and the border of Ethiopia in the south. Not a human will be seen in it, nor will an animal move through it. It’ll be just empty desert, empty for forty years.

¹² “‘I’ll make Egypt the most desolate of all desolations. For forty years I’ll make her cities the most wasted of all wasted cities. I’ll scatter Egyptians to the four winds, send them off every which way into exile.

^13-16 “‘But,’ says God, the Master, ‘that’s not the end of it. After the forty years, I’ll gather up the Egyptians from all the places where they’ve been scattered. I’ll put things back together again for Egypt. I’ll bring her back to Pathros where she got her start long ago. There she’ll start over again from scratch. She’ll take her place at the bottom of the ladder and there she’ll stay, never to climb that ladder again, never to be a world power again. Never again will Israel be tempted to rely on Egypt. All she’ll be to Israel is a reminder of old sin. Then Egypt will realize that I am God, the Master.’”

* * *

^17-18 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has worn out his army against Tyre. They’ve worked their fingers to the bone and have nothing to show for it.

^19-20 “Therefore, God, the Master, says, ‘I’m giving Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He’ll haul away its wealth, pick the place clean. He’ll pay his army with Egyptian plunder. He’s been working for me all these years without pay. This is his pay: Egypt. Decree of God, the Master.

²¹ “‘And then I’ll stir up fresh hope in Israel—the dawn of deliverance!—and I’ll give you, Ezekiel, bold and confident words to speak. And they’ll realize that I am God.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.,,

Realize that He is God and there is no one else is like Him!

If we really believe that what God says is really real, lean fully on Him.  Seek God.  Repent.  Forgive as He forgives us.  Love God.  Love others like He loves us.  Ask for wisdom.  He is waiting to hear from us.  He is ready for us to lean all our hopes on Him.  He is our Deliverer, Savior and Lord!   

By leaning on God, we become close enough to hear his heartbeat, his whispers of hope, and his wisdom words of direction.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms…

Lord,

Thank you for being the One and Only I can lean on with confidence that you will do what is best for my life—for you are life to me!  Leaning, leaning, Safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, Leaning on the everlasting arms.

In Jesus Name, Amen

(Leaning on the Everlasting Arms was written by E.A. Hoffman in 1894)