Isaiah 40-43
Comfort, comfort my
people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly
to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone, and her sins are pardoned. Yes,
the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.”
This morning I awoke with the kind of headache
that is thick and heavy. I know that it was allergy related but that does not
stop the pain in my head. The thing is this particular head pain comes from the
gel medicine I put on my foot to reduce inflammation in my tendons from either
over work or a wrong step that further stretches already outstretched tendons
from too many injuries over the years. Too many times my feet have been injured
and now they complain.
As I broke open my Bible this morning, I turned to
a few scriptures but was caught up in Isaiah 40. In this chapter we can find
that famously overused quote “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength…” you know the one with the eagle posted with it all over social
media? That one.
This morning though, I began reading without a
specific idea of what I was looking for and I think for the first time I really
thought on what was going on. God is
running down the life and times of Israel and everyone in it and telling them
to wait for it! He is not just saying
wait on Me and I will make you strong; our God is saying He has done this for
those who seek Him not self-satisfaction but God for God’s sake. Not just to
get something from Him but to worship Him, to love Him, to care what He wants
in our lives and not to just fit Him into our boxes when we need something or
desire something. I got the idea that we should not be just praying God fix
this, or give me this, or show me how to get to this from this point… we need
to be seeking Him in all things. We need to be seeking Him in our sorrow.
We need to be seeking Him in our happiness.
We need to be seeking Him in our confusion.
We need to seek Him while He may be found; for He
will not always be found.
We need to realize that He already is in control, it’s
not about us giving Him the control but realizing that He has our lives in the
palm of His hand. It is about deciding that we believe He has us in the palm of
His and when we seek Him it should be to see what He wants us to do in life. Then we need to walk in that.
I do not know why today it stood out to me, there
is no mention of who you marry, what job you get, just that you, me, us, we are
called to be His people.
As His people we can know that He will never
forsake, leave or desert us; but people will.
He will never leave us comfortless; but people
will.
He will never be untrustworthy; but people will.
He personally will never fail us; but we will fail
Him time after time and yet, He still loves us and will keep us, nudging us back
on path with His loving hands. So why do we worry? Why do we focus on just what
we want in life? Why do we put so much pride in thinking we know the mind of
God… for who can know the mind of God? Surely not man!
Though David was called a man after God’s own
heart; David did not know the mind of God. He came close to understanding, but
nope, not even David.
Jacob went in faith to find a wife and ended up
with two. Did you ever ask why? I
believe it was one man’s deception and another man’s desire for what he wanted
things to be like that he did not see the deception in the other man. God
brings a nation from these two women, but the one that Jacob desired the most
brings for the salvation of the nation eventually. It is through Joseph that
they are saved more than once. God used these men through their trials, and despite
their pride and confusion at times to continually do His will through them. He
tries again and again to teach Israel’s people to follow Him and the guidance
He gives to do the right things and be happy. But man, continually tries to do
it on his own, thinking God did not need to take care of everything, that He
was not concerned with each of them; but He was and is. He is concerned for
each of us, He cries when we cry. Who is man that He is mindful of us? For
real, He cares so deeply for us in a way we cannot fathom as humans, but we
try. We try to figure God out left and right and if we read His Word, our
Bibles today we can find so many things about Him to get a clue of what He
wants in our lives. Its simple really.
Look up into the heavens. Who created all the
stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its
name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is
missing. O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your
rights?
Have you never heard? Have you never
understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the
Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the
depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the
powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in
exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will
soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will
walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:26-31
Yet we grow weary. We get tired and wish we could
just get the things we want to line up to line up. So why do they not? Why do
we not know what God wants us to do?
I believe it is all a matter of trusting that He
sees our next step and as I said, He will nudge us toward that spot. Though our
salvation has only to be accepted to be activated our live path must be walked
through.
Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear
the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through
the wasteland for our God! Fill in the
valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth
out the rough places. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all
people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!” Isaiah 40:3-5
We are to make straight the path; we are to show
others how to walk on it; we are to follow Him through it.
Make straight the path.
How? Well in our own lives we can make the path
straight by removing distractions.
Clear the way through the wilderness of life for
each of us. That could be so many things, work, gaming, stressing over things
we need to take care of; to clear this away in prayer and in guidance from
those who are in our lives who know what to do helps us to remove clutter from
our lives and clear the way.
Look up! In verse 26 of Isaiah 40 it calls us to
remember Who He is. He has created us, but not only that but all things. He
made everything and yet we try to put so many things before Him. Why do you
think that is? I am persuaded to think it is the enemy who would put everything
in this world before our eyes. Monetary gain is ony a portion. The cares of
this world are paying bills, finding contentment in selfish things, and even
sometimes worrying about helping others.
Even looking for another person to love us and make us feel loved can be
a distraction in life.
Take some
time this week to examine yourself and see if there is something or someone to illuminate
from your life and help yourself to become less distracted from doing what God wants
you to do. See if you find peace!
Heavenly
Father help us to become less distracted by life and more focused on following
the steps You put before us to follow. Direct our path through Your Word today.
In Jesus’ name, amen.