Living Understanding Pt 11: Wait on God

Isaiah 40:28-31                      28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.

Colossians 1:15-16                15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

This verse (40:28-31) comes after a long section in which Isaiah has prophesied that Israel will be taken into captivity as a consequence for their rebellion and rejection of God.  This captivity takes place about 150 years after Isaiah’s time, and as one might expect, the prophecy of its happening was not received as welcome news.  The immediately preceding section speaks of God as Creator, and brings into specific relief the doctrine of God as Creator:  He originates everything, maintains everything, controls everything, and directs everything to move to the end he intends.

Will not grow tired or weary

Now, as we consider the current passage, Isaiah speaks to the absurdity of losing faith in the One who created and maintains everything, and here is where Isaiah speaks to our current generation.  In spite of the flagging morality, and the obvious denigration of family and Godly values, we should not lose hope.  God does not get tired and quit as do we, there has been no time when he was not there, his strength does not wane, nor has there been any time when he was not up to the task.  Moreover, God is not selfish and everything he has, he shares:  So neither will we grow weary or tired.

Yesterday I had a lunch date with my daughter, but I wasn’t very good company.  I was tired, irritable because of traffic, my blood sugar was low, and I was cranky and she noticed.  But we continued, and it was a good lunch although not as wonderful as normal.  But God provides for such things because although he is unwearying, he does understand our frailty and fragility.

Hope in the Lord

The solution?  We should hope in the Lord.  Here is another instance where translation misleads understanding.  Both Hebrew and English have the word hope, but the words have different meanings.  The English hope carries the connotation of uncertain outcome, while the Hebrew connotes certainty of outcome but uncertainty of how it will be attained.  So we can trust that God has our back (Hebrew hope), and not worry about stuff (English hope).  There is an additional flavor in the Hebrew hope of patiently waiting and trustfully resting.  None of those meanings exist in the English hope.  So the idea of hoping in the Lord is that we are not to be in a hurry.  God has a view of things other than ours,

8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

5Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Often I find the things of the world to be a mystery; I just don’t understand why they are the way they are except that Satan is alive and well.  So when I’m overwhelmed and my course before me is not clear, the temptation is to just barge ahead, pushing myself through the obstacles toward some end.  That’s not what God wants:  He wants us to go to him  at all times, but especially when we are in a struggle.  “Trust me,” he says, “I’ve got your back and I’ll take care of it.”

And when we are exhausted by life, as was I, we can relax, change our direction (I took a nap), and continue on.  And while continuing on we can renew our strength.  What?  How does renewing strength make any difference?  It is still us dealing with an uncertain fallen world, and in our human strength that just doesn’t work very well.  So the renewing of strength is not welling up some new energy from deep inside our own selves, but learning to depend of God’s strength. 

One of the definitions of insanity is to keep on doing the same thing over and over and over again and somehow believe the outcome will be different.  God is telling us not to continue doing that dumb thing but to change course and renew ourselves by trusting in him.  Here he uses the metaphor of the eagle, constantly in motion, diving at prey, rising on thermals, coasting in clear skies.  Our renewed strength is different, supplied by God, enabling us to view the problem from a different angle and to respond in a different way by depending on him.

What about me?

Life seems to be all in a rush these days; walking down the street, everyone seems to have a phone to their ear, or nearly get hit walking into a street while texting.  We get caught up in the physical needs of life and forget to address the spiritual ones.  Our focus is all wrong.

13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.  (James 4:13-16)

My friend, try to have fun in your life.  Enjoy it in a Godly, righteous way.  We are here for such a short time that it is silly to waste time on anything.  Struggles will come; that is just the nature of things.  But we don’t have to let those struggles overwhelm us.  So when you feel weak, take a break.  When you are strong, help someone.  But is all things, in everything, praise God.  He will help you on your way.