March 7, 2026 Devo

Do you ever notice how some people have to learn the hard way? I don’t know about you, but I’ve actually been that person from time to time! Some people take the “hard way” learning to an extreme. I read about a man in New York who was waiting on a subway train. Being in a hurry, he leaned around the corner to look to see if the train was coming. It was. And it hit him in the head and knocked him unconscious! When he was interviewed at the hospital where he was recovering, he confessed that he really should have known better. He had done the exact same thing a year before with the same results!
Isaiah points out in our passage today that his people are about to learn the hard way. God had warned them about abandoning Him and serving other gods, but they did it anyway. God told them that there would be consequences for disobeying Him, but they disobeyed Him anyway. God told them that if they served Him, He would bless them, protect them, and cause them to flourish. But they decided to do things THEIR way. Now they’re going to learn the hard way. Since they would not listen to God, they would be forced into slavery by a foreign country. Their captivity would show how foolish they were not to listen to God from the beginning. Maybe now they would understand what God had tried to say. Sadly, it was a hard way to learn it.
Let’s camp on this just a second. God speaks to us in lots of ways to guide us, warn us, teach us, and correct us. But are we LISTENING? Even if we hear it, are we OBEYING it? He speaks through His Word as we read it. He speaks through the whispers of His Holy Spirit as He nudges our hearts and minds. He speaks through the counsel of friends and family as they speak into our lives or advise us about things we’re doing or decisions we’re making. Sadly, if we don’t listen to any of those, He speaks through the “hard ways.” He speaks through the suffering we endure because of our poor choices. He speaks through the painful consequences that our actions bring about. He speaks through the pain of others we observe who suffer because of what we’ve done. Sometimes, He even speaks through people who chastise us with phrases such as, “What were you thinking?!”
The hard way is not the chosen way God wants us to learn. It’s His last resort to stop us on paths of self-destruction. He’d rather we heed His Word, follow His commands, and seek His path. When we don’t, He’s left with no choice but to let another voice tell us. And that, my friend, is the voice of the Hard Way. That’s God’s Word for you today.