Truth #40 - OUR sources for relief from stress are always inadequate - Isaiah 29-33

Isaiah 31:3
Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
And their horses are flesh and not spirit;
So the Lord will stretch out His hand,
And he who helps will stumble
And he who is helped will fall,
And all of them will come to an end together.

In the middle of our distress we often turn to a variety of sources for relief.   In the midst of financial stress, we might turn to a bank, or a friend with deep pockets.  In the midst of health distress, we almost always turn to our health care system.   In the midst of material stress, we might turn to the mechanic, plumber or builder.    Any one of those sources of relief for what ails us, are not, by themselves, wrong, sinful or inadequate.   It is not, necessarily, WHO we turn to, it is the WHY we turn to them and to what EXTENT do we turn to our source of relief.   If we are having personal issues (psychological), or social issues (sociological), who do we turn to, who, and to what extent?   A psychologists or a sociologist are not evil, in and of themselves.  However, we can, turn to these sources of relief and fail to realize, remember, or acknowledge, that NO relief comes to our stress if we don't first and foremost recognize that God is the relief we need. He is the source we are to turn to in our pain and suffering.   In the above text we pick up Isaiah's prophesy where he is admonishing the nation to stop turning to other sources for relief from their national stress.   Since they were about to come under siege by the Babylonians, they wanted to find some alli that would support them and protect them.   However, what they didn't understand is that the Babylonians were being sent by God to punish them for their sin.  Therefore, their fleeing to Egypt for help was a failure to recognize God's loving chastisement.   They rejected God and He was about to bring chastisement to them.   Now they were rejecting His chastisement and turning to Egypt for relief.   As the text states, Egyptians are men and not God!!   Their horses (a sign of their supposed power) is the the power of the Spirit.   Instead of seeking God in faith, they sought help in the flesh.    God is not, in this verse, telling us that plumbers, banks, builders are bad and sinful to use, when in trouble.   He does not tell us that psychologist and sociologist are sinful.   But, He is saying that human psychology, fleshly sociology, temporal mechanical help and/or financial support WILL NOT replace Him and CANNOT replace Him in the midst of our stress.    The stress we experience CAN BE because of sin (see the Nation of Israel).  However, the stress we experience CAN ALSO BE because of some spiritual battle in the background of our lives (see Job).   We don't always know what God has for us in the circumstances of our lives.   But, in the midst of those circumstances we can be assured that He is using those to conform us to the image of His Son and to accomplish His plan for the world.   When we quickly turn to some source to find relief we ought to remember the truth of the above passage:  Man's solutions for salvation are useless.   "All of them  will come to an end together."