“I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed. I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me, O Israel! You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings. You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you with requests for grain offerings and frankincense. You have not brought me fragrant calamus or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults.

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.

Isaiah 43:16-25

Dear God, thank you for blotting out my sins. Thank you for making a pathway through the wilderness. I am sorry for growing tired of you. I am sorry for the times when I refuse to ask for your help. I am sorry for taking back the life I gave you and trying to live on my own. I am sorry for burdening you with my sins and wearying you with my faults. Thank you that you have overcome all of my humanness through what you did by sending Jesus to live, die, and rise again. Thank you.

Father, there isn’t much more to this. Your words through Isaiah are just a great reminder that I am foolish, sinful, selfish, and shortsighted. But you are gracious beyond my foolishness. You are forgiving beyond my sinfulness. You are loving beyond my selfishness. And you are compassionate beyond my shortsightedness. Thank you, Father. Thank you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen