God will give you strength (2)
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Good morning church!
It is so good to see everyone this morning, and as always if you are joining us online we thank you for being with us at home. If you have your Bibles handy please tuen with me to Isaiah 40 we will begin reading in a moment from verse 27.
(Let’s Pray)
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
God will give you strength
There was a famous story about Winston Churchill who lead Britan to a great victory in WW2 was defeated in 1945 and after he was defeated his wife clementine came to him hoping to console her husband that it was just a blessing in disguise....
Churchill replied if that is true then the blessing is very well disguised...
Have you ever felt like that in your life?
If not keep going to bed at night andf waking up and you will get there. Life and ministry confronts us with dangers toils and snares and they really do cause up to look up sometimes ans wonder Lord what good can come of this?
These closing verses of chapter 40 give us comfort especially those who are in difficult times.
This part of Isaiah is a turning point in Isaiah’s writing the book of Isaiah can be broken down into 2 sections
1-39 (warn of the impending judgement that is coming on Gods stubbornly rebellious people)
By the time we get to chapter 40 there is a new section where it assumes at this point Israel has been defeated their armies have been overtaken the city of Jerusalem has been captured but now Isaiah is sent to the people of God with a new message...
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
Here in Isaiah 40 the prophet begins to offer comfort to those who are weary and troubled people of God and promises them future deliverance by the mighty hand of God.
As you read there are even illusions to the ultimate deliverance that is going to come through the arrival of the Messiah King the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you get to the end of 40 it like there is still a dilemma what are these weak and troubled people gonna do in the meantime?
Deliverance is coming but what are they supposed to do in the meantime?
The King is coming but it was a long way from Isaiah Matt Mark Luke and John
What are these weak and worn out people supposed to do in the meantime?
While this is a promise of future deliverance these closing verses give hope for the meantime and the message is simply THAT GOD WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH IF YOU TRUST HIM IN YOUR WEAKNESS
These words were given to comfort the people of God while they waited on the Messiah to come we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ benefit from these words c we are waiting for Him to come again...
In the days and times we live in, the troubled times around us calls us to seek good in the troubled and difficult times that we are called to live and minister in. Personally as we follow Jesus and do His will and labor for the Kingdom we will face the dangers and toils and snares of people hating Jesus and inevitably hating us.
Motivational speakers who masquerade as gospel preachers will have some think that following Jesus will bring this unbroken experience of health, wealth and blessing
NOT SO
But thew good news is IF YOU TRUST THE LORD JESUS CHRIST YOU CAN LIVE WITH ASSURANCE THAT GODS STRENGTH IS REAL AND THE AVAILABLE AND SUFFICIENT FOR WHATEVER YOU GO THROUGH IN THIS LIFE!
The one who follows Jesus truly has FAITH FOR ANY OCCASION!
They can take trouble on one hand and blessings in the other hand and hold them two together knowing that ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE GOD AND ARE THE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSES
GOD WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH IF YOU TRUST HIM IN YOUR TIME OF WEAKNESS
This passage offers several conditions for divine strength
God will give you strength if you remember to worship Him.
God will give you strength if you remember to worship Him.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Notice the language they use
they feel God is hiding from them and disregarded them, they are saying this. It is thier complaint against God?
Have you ever felt that way?
That God was playing hide and go seek with you?
Just when you needed Him the most have you ever felt like God disregarded your desperate please for help just when you needed Him the most this is how the people of God feel here
Interestingly Is acknowledges how they feel without telling them its ok to feel that way.
He knows its easy to do but He rebukes thier complaints by saying
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah is backing God up and trying to help the people of GOd think clearly in the midst of thier pain.
He points them to God divine perfection of God which they should trust
He says these things I am about to tell you is not new news these are things you should have known and heard already, but I am here to remind you!
Aint it good to get a reminder of the God we serve sometime?
He is saying GOD IS NOT HIDING OR DESERTING YOU
He is basically saying God hasnt moved but you are looking in the wrong direction.
You need to be reminded who your God is
THE LORD IS ETERNAL! EVERLASTING GOD!
HE is not bound by clocks and claendars and schedules god lives in one eternal now
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
GOD WAS ON THE THRONE BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS WERE CREATED AND HE WILL BE ON THE THRONE WHEN THEY ARE CAST INTO THE SEA
He is from everlasting to everlasting this is meant to make a point
Gods timing is perfect!
Bc He is the everlasting God He is never early or ever late!
Those words aint even in his vocabulary
Whenever God moves it is always the right time His timing is perfect.
How long before the rain and the flood did God show up for noah?
He showed up for Shadrack MEshack and Abednego while they were in the fiery furnace but it was still the right time.
He didnt show up for Mary and MArtha until after Lazarus died and had been for 4 days but it was still the right time
An old deacon used to say
You cant hurry God naw you just have to wait
YOu gotta trust Him and give him time no matter how long it takes
He is a God you cant hurry but He will be there dont worry for he may not come when you want Him but He is always right on time
He is eternal
But He is also Soverign He is the creator of the ends of the Earth
(Gen 1:1)
When God says He is the creator of the ends of the Earth it means He reigns over the ends of the Earth
He says God created the ends of the Earth
EVERY PLACE YOU MEASURE ON PLANET EARTH IS THE HANDIWORK OF GOD!
My momma aint no theologian but I remember sunsets, and stars hanging in the sky and the ocean and the trees and she would say God is the best artist there is.
Can you believe God made that?
To say that God is eternal means you can trust God at all times, to say that He is the creator of the ends of the Earth is to say that you can TRUS HIM IN ALL PLACES
Wherever you find yourself He is in charge there He is the creator of the ends of the Earth!
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
God is ALL POWERFUL and He teaches us this by teaching us what God cannot do.
HE CANNOT FAINT OR GROW WEARY PRAISE GOD FOR WHAT GOD DOES NOT DO!
You might have people in your life that you think you can count on in moments of great weakness thats good but be careful not to trust in man you think you can lean on people in your times of weakness but whatever the problem is it better not be too big..
It better not last too long and it better not cost too much, human resources run out but when all of those run out HE NEVER FAINTS, HE IS NEVER WEARY!
ETERNAL SOVERIGN ALL POWERFUL ALLWISE
His understanding is unsearchable not only is God able but He always knows what He is doing.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
Our God is all wise there is no searching of His understanding
God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform He pplants His footsteps on the sea rides on every storm.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust Him for His grace for behind His frowning providence He hides His smiling face.
Isiaiah says God will give you strength but you gotta stop looking around and be consumed by whats happening around you but instead look up and remember who YOUR GOD IS
God gives strength to those who remember to worship Him
God gives strength to those who acknowledge thier weakness to Him.
God gives strength to those who acknowledge thier weakness to Him.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
God is not stingy with His strength He is willing to share it but there is a condition.
There are Christians who go around using the saying God helps those who help themselves as if its in the Bible its not.
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO CANNOT HELP THEMSELVES
If we think we are gonna pull ourselves up by our boostraps we are wrong that automatically disqualifies you from divine enablement.
You can get Gods help if you think you are strong enough on your own.
If you need His strength you have to acknowledge you are weak to recieve salvation you gotta acknowledge you are lost, to recieve His forgiveness you gotta confess you sins
To experience how great God is you have to be willing to acknowledge how weak you are.
On one occasion the champ Mohammed ALi boarded a plane and he is putting on his routine for the passengers as thier getting settled in, until the flight attendant told him they were about to take off
champ you need to sit down and buckle up
He refused he was the greatest of all time, he and the flight attendant went back and forth and he thought he was going to have the last word he says to the lady do you know who I am?
I am superman
Superman doesnt need a seatbelt, the flight attendant said Champ you right but superman dont need a plane either
I hate to tell you you are not as strong as you think you are
All it takes is one phone call, one letter in the mail, one meeting, one trip to the doctors office, all it takes is a car sliding out of thier lane into your lane unexpectedly
It takes so little for life to show us that we are not strong as we think we are.
CS Lewis said
The one who has God and other things are really no different than the one who has God and nothing
We have other things:money and education and skill and ability but you will face times in life where money cant buy you out of it, and education cant think you through it, your connections cant pull you out of it.
GOD IS EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN YOUR TIME OF WEAKNESS!
Be warned by the life of Uzziah
He took the throne of Judah at the age of 16 and reigned for 62 years but his early success was ultimately met with failure
UZZIAH WAS MARVELOUSLY HELPED BY GOD UNTIL HE BECAME STRONG
When He became strong he became lifted up in pride to his own destruction.
He thought his position as king gave him the right to usurp the ministry of the priest as he tried to intrude at the alter god struck him with leprosy and the most pwerful man on the earth dies a lonely failure in an isolated house.
His story reminds us about the power of weakness AS LONG AS THIS GREAT MAN REALIZED HE WAS WEAK GOD HELPED HIM in fact Gods word said GOD MARVELOUSLY HELPED HIM.
But when he started to trust in himself God put Him in his place.
Dont fall inlove with yourself and be like Uzziah
Humble yourself and be like Paul who understood the power of weakness and declared I PREFER INFIRMITY AND WEAKNESS BC WHEN I AM WEAK THEN I AM STRONG
God gives strength to those who remember to worship him, God gives strength to those who admit they are weak
God gives strength to those who wait on Him
God gives strength to those who wait on Him
Phillip Brooks writes about a time when He was pacing back and forth and a friend asked him what was wrong and Brooks said
“The problem is simply this I am in a hurry but God is not”
Could that be why your life is filled with worry doubt and fear, could it be as simple as that?
That you are in a hurry and God is not?
God will give you strength but you have to determine to wait on Him
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
God will give you strength if you wait on him He will give you renewed strength
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
That means if you trust God in your time of weakness whatever it may be If you bring it to God you can trade in your weakness for His strength.
The opposite is in verse 30
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
Youth represents those who are full of life vitality and strength but they will faint and be weary
Young men chosen for military will inevitably fall down exhausted
Isaiah is saying you can put your trust in man but you will be dissapointed everytime or you can wait on the Lord and if you wait on Him to move He will renew your strength.
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
This picture means God will give you strength as strength is needed
The promise is not that you will feel strong it is better that you dont feel strong, bc the stronger you feel the more self sufficient you become but the weaker you feel the more you will lean on Him.
If it is a sudden crisis if you will trust in the Lord He will give you the strength to fly over it like an eagle mounts over a sudden storm
or maybe its a sudden trial or sickness or problem if you wait and pray and wait on the Lord you can run and not grow weary
OR maybe the daily affairs of life just has you down, He will renew your strength so that you will walk and not faint.
Now when I look at this I think it sounds backwards it might sound a little better if the order was different
walk, run, fly
But Isaiah says its the opposite
You mount up then run, then you slow down to a walk
That is intentional
WHEN YOU COME TO A MOUNTAIN DO YOU WANNA START OF WALKING OR FLYING?
Christians are like eagles as they wait on the Lord They catch flight over thier problem area then begin to descend on the other side until they are walking firmly on the other side
The goal is that you learn how to keep trusting Him when faced with a mountain
Even in your time of weakness
Thank God I am learning this
A father would take walks with his daughter and one day he decided they were going on a long walk different streets different houses and he stopped and said do you know where you are?
She said no
He said do you know how to get home from here?
She said No
HE said you are a brave little girl not to be afraid even though you dont know how to get back.
She said I dont need to be brave daddy I am with you.
In your life in your walk with God and family if you know that God is with you, and you are with God HE will renew your strength.
(Pray)