Plugging into the Lord

Intro:

Well today we are going to take a break from the gospel of Luke in the high school and Hebrews in Jr high. We are going to do things a bit different today.

if you have your bible, turn with me to the book of Isaiah 40:

Almost everyone here in this group has a cell phone i imagine or and ipod. We all have devices that we can contact people somehow.

now these devices are all ran on a battery. Each device will tell us what battery level the device is at and how long it has left until the power runs out.

now the battery life on each device will vary depending on how the device is used, depending on the size the screen on the phone, depending on how many apps you have open, depending if you are using wifi or the data plan, or if there is an issue with your phone.

there are a number is reasons why phones will lose power faster than others. Yet, we all understand that no matter what phone i have, no matter how hard my phone is working, when the battery is about to go out.... i need to plug it in.

Usually we all plug in our phones at night when we are about to go to sleep. It is during the night that our phones and our bodies get recharged.

Transition

The reason i am saying this is because this makes complete sense to any normal person. Of course my phone needs to be recharged and of course my body needs to recover and rest. But what about our spirit ?

See the reality is that just as our phones are all different and are all working hard to support the users task, so you and i are daily at work attempting to fulfill the task of our master, the Lord.

And we may all be involved in many different things throughout the day, but the same principal is at work. The reality that you and i cannot just push ourselves spiritually speaking and never take the time to recharge spiritually.

Our days our filled with problems, issues, disappointments, heartbreaks, frustrations, anger, temptations, sin, the flesh, work, school, sports, events, etc......

and these things can exhaust us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

but the problem that often happens with us is that we will attempt to push through all of these things on our own strength, with our own understanding...... and fail to tape into the source of life, God and His word...... we will often see ourselves run out of power, and burn out, just like a phone

Transition

here in the book of Isaiah 40 we see a transition taking place. The book of Isaiah is broken up into 2 sections. chapters 1-39 is the first section which has a theme of the judgement to come to the Nation of Israel, the captivity that will take place… it also some historical parts in it as well.

the second section of the book is chapters 40-66. In this section the main theme is “comfort & hope”. See many believe that this second portion was written for a time when the Nation of Israel would be taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

as they were in captivity away from their homes, they would be able to remembers these things written and to find comfort in the hope of their deliverance from the bondage of Babylon, much more, looking to the promised Messiah.

Chapter 39 ends with the prophet Isaiah telling King Hezekiah how judgement will come to the Nation of Israel and how they will be taken captive.

then chapter 40 starts with words “comfort, yes comfort”.

this sets the stage for what we will be looking at today at the end of chapter 40.

I. Men will Lose their Strength (v. 29-30)

now here Isaiah gives us insight into some realities. The fact that humans are not superhuman. We all at some point run out of energy, we run out of strength, we get tired and exhausted.

Now in this portion Isaiah is using the term, “youth” or “young”. It is not directly speaking about young people. It is making reference to the fact that youth is associated with strength.

Proverbs 20:29 NKJV

The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their gray head.

i can tell you this is true. When i was in my 20’s i was strong and in great shape. i could run for days, i could work all night, i could push myself beyond my limits in every area and would thrive. There was nothing that i felt i could not do.

now as time has gone on, and grey hair has come in, i have lost my most of my strength, i don’t have the ability to push myself like i once did, i know my limits more, and there is more wisdom i have gained over the years.

so Isaiah is making note that there can be an attempt on our own strength to push through this life without plugging into the Lord....... And we are fools to think that it is possible.

matter of fact, we see that here that all forms of our own strength will fail us at one point.

Isaiah speaks of 3 different areas.

Those who are weak (v.29)

now Isaiah tells us that God gives strength to those who are weak and have no might.

this speaks of not having the power to do something. An inability to accomplish something.

if we had a bench press challenge right now and put 225 lbs on it, there are some who would have the ability to do it, and there are some who would not have the ability to lift that weight and we would call them “weak”.

We can understand that inability. But this speaks much more that just physically, it also has to deal with the emotions and the spiritual aspects of our lives.

see the reality is that there will be things that we are weak in. Maybe we won’t be able to physically compete with other people in a sport, or we won’t be able to do as well as others do in school.

i myself am dyslexic , letters and numbers get switched in my head. i also grew up in the hood… so i often can’t talk as well as others, i can’t make sense of certain things as others do.... i get the reality of being weak in certain areas.

but i also know that there are many who also struggle emotionally because of abuse, or issues that you have been through. Maybe dealing with depression or anxiety. There can be a feeling of being weak and not being like everyone else.

there is also a spiritual weakness. The inability to grow into spiritual maturity, the inability to understand or to retain God’s word. The inability to resist temptations.

at some point we have to see that this is us. We are weak, wherever you may be , we are all weak at somepoint. We don’t always have the ability to push through simply on our own strength.

in the Hebrew “weak” speaks of “failure through loss of inherent strength”.

the thought is that a person is weak and has failed because he lost the strength which we once had.

2. Those who are Weary (v.30)

Here Isaiah uses a different word, “weary”. In the Hebrew , this speaks of “exhaustion because of hardness of life”.

this speaks of becoming exhausted because of the situations and circumstances of life that we deal with.

school work, work, events, sports and practices..... There are just so many things that we often have to deal with in a single day and there is not enough hours in the day.

we can become physically and emotionally drained with dealing with all these things.

have you guys ever had to deal with someone who is going through personal issues, and they are crying and you are trying to comfort them. There are times that you walk away simply exhausted. you are drained. Sometimes your dealing with your own issues and things that disappointed you, and they can drain you.

For me, i deal with this at work. i get drained with all the stuff i have to deal with, all the problems. I also deal with this when i teach or lead worship in Main. The whole week is this building up of preparation and prayer and studying then it’s game time..... and i lay it all out there.... When i come home, i feel like i just ran a marathon. i am emotionally and spiritually exhausted, drained.

becoming tired and exhausted is a part of life, and some of it can be really good for you. To push yourself to do hard things and to test your limits. Sometimes we need to learn to say no to things. Some of you have FOMO and have a hard time saying no to your friends.

but the reality that at some point we become the phone that has lost all it’s power.

3. Those who Fall (v.30)

the word used here for “fail” speaks about stumbling or to fall.

it is speaking of a person walking or running and them utterly stumbling or falling because of the obstical.

If you remember in the book of 1 Cor.9 we talked about the Christian life being a long distance race and the need to be disciplined if we wanted to finish the race well.

1 Corinthians 9:27 NKJV

But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

the picture we get here is that you and i are not perfect, and there are times when we are running our race and we don’t see the obstical in our race until it’s too late and we stumble and fall. We make a mistake. We sin.

That is the reality of living in this life, that you and i are not perfect, people are not perfect. You and i will make mistakes, people will make mistakes. And either you will be made to stumble by your own doing or sometimes it’s by someone else’s mistakes. The fact is that we can end up on the floor spiritually and we can stop moving forward.

there is a need to get up and to keep running. but sometimes we can’t do that on our own. Our own sins are too great in our eyes, the mistake someone made is too big for me to forget or forgive, etc.... you fill in the blank.

Transition

and wherever you find yourself today , maybe your weak and feel you have lost your ability to do things or to pursue God, maybe you are exhausted physically , emotionally or spiritually . You feel drained..... Maybe you have stumbled and have fallen and can’t find the way back up and back forward.

the hope today is that you will learn what is needed. You need to tap back into the source of life. You need to plug into God’s word to be recharged.

II. God is the Source of our Strength (v.31)

The Exhortation

Here Isaiah tells us an exhortation and a promise that is for you and I.

he tells us to “wait” on the Lord.

now that word “wait” in the original language speaks of an active waiting or actively resting. It is speaking about trusting and hoping in God by actively doing something.

often we think of waiting - of doing nothing. Oh resting and waiting means i do nothing and let God do the work. That is not what it is talking about. It is saying that their is a responsibility on my part to pursue God.

to Pursue God’s word, to pursue God in prayer , in worship. Just like a phone is not going to get charged unless you plug it into the wall, so you and i will not be spiritually re-charged unless we pursue time with God. i can’t stress this enough.

Look many people take the pressures of life and they feel that they have to decompress by working out or running or doing different things to release stress.

When i was younger i snowboarded alot. I was a really good snowboarded and it was fun and exciting.I would go daily during the winter after work. I would go off of huge jumps and huge rails and boxes. It was awesome. but now that i’m older i love to paddleboard.

There is something about just being out in the water in a slow pace that allows me to relax and to enjoy the moment. So Nat and the kids kind of know when i go paddleboarding , i am going to unload my mind. So i get it the need and the importance of having things that help to decompress and relax.

..... but the main source of us decompressing should be by spending alone time with God.

Jesus made this principal clear to His disciples when they had just come back from doing ministry . He was trying to teach them the importance of getting away with him to rest in Him.

Mark 6:30–32 NKJV

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

“come away and rest a while”, is what Jesus said to His disciples. “come and rest a while” is what Jesus would be saying to you and I today. Don’t just sit back in your weakness , in your exhausting or in your sin.... but come away with me and there you will find rest.

The Promise

Isaiah told us to wait on the Lord which we saw as an active rest...... now he tells us what happens to those who actively rest in the Lord, to those who pursue God.

They will “renew” their strength. That word speaks of to change or to put on what was lost.

it speaks of being able to put on that strength that we lost because of situations, because of problems, because of sin..... It is in the presence of God, that we will find strength for today.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

2 Timothy 2:1 NKJV

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

our strength is found at the throne of God which we now have access to, our strength is through the grace of God. It is by the grace of God that we can find the strength to pursue hard things that we are not good at, or pursue to overcome, it is by the grace of God that we gain the strength to keep pushing when we are tired and exhausted, it is by the grace of God that we are forgiven when we fall , it is by his grace that we can get up again and keep running.

They will mount up with wings of eagles. - which speaks of moving swiftly, in a strong manner, high above out of the reach of danger.

They will run, and not be weary, they will walk and not faint.

The promise in both of these is of God giving us the ability to keep moving forward in His strength. Often times when we find ourselves in weakness, or weary or in a stumbled place..... we don’t realize that we are in a stand still.

we have stopped moving forward. We have lost the power spiritually in our lives to keep moving. What i am trying to teach you today is the need for you to get plugged back in to the Lord.

there is a need to pursue Him and actively resting in Him. Pursue time alone with God, pursue time in His word, pursue time in prayer with him. This is where you will find the reset button and will be able to get up and start moving forward again