Isaiah 40:31 Waiting on the Lord

Is. 40:31   But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

This verse is cherished by many of us.  The promise is that God’s favor will be upon those who wait on him.  He will be with them and overwhelm them with freedom and strength in Him.  The thought I want to dwell on for a few moments is the waiting.  What does that mean for us today?  A few things come to my mind.

When we wait before the Lord we don’t get ahead of Him.  We don’t strike out on our own and wait for Him to catch up to us.  We let Him do the leading.  It’s like the Israelites of old as they wandered in the wilderness.  They stayed in their camp until the Lord moved.  Whenever He lifted His presence from the Tabernacle, they broke camp and followed Him.  If He didn’t lead them anywhere different, they stayed put and occupied where they were at.  We sometimes get anxious about things and start moving on our own.  We need to learn to wait.  Sometimes we get too confident of ourselves and start moving without God’s direction.  We need to learn to wait.

When we wait on the Lord we spend time in fellowship with Him.  We seek Him out just to be with Him.  We linger in His presence just to enjoy Him.  We spend time in the Word looking for Him.  We spend time in prayer expecting to visit with Him. 

When we wait, we make the Lord a priority in our lives.  We value our time with Him and understand that our time with Him takes priority over everything else.  We don’t rush our time or try to fit Him into our busy schedule.  We understand that everything else must fit around our time with Him and if that means some things have to be set aside and perhaps not get done, so be it.

When we wait before the Lord, we linger until we know that our need for Him has been met.  We linger as we bring to Him all the burdens of our heart.  We linger until we have peace that all is well with our soul and our burdens are lifted.  We linger with thanksgiving on our hearts for Him and all that we are so richly blessed with.  We linger that we might praise Him, for He is worthy of all our praise.  We understand that there is no greater need that we have than to wait on the Lord.  Waiting on the Lord means that our hearts are in an attitude of worship while living in Him.  Wait on the Lord and He WILL renew your strength.

Isaiah 40:28-30 God never grows tired or weary.

Is. 40:28-30  Have you never heard or understood?  Don’t you know that the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth?  He never grows faint or weary.  No one can measure the depths of His understanding.  He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak.  Even youths will become exhausted and young men will give up.

Do you really believe it to be true?  Do you know that the Lord is the everlasting God who has created all things?  If you really know that God is everlasting, that is, He has no beginning or end, then you know that you can always trust Him in all things.  God has not lost one iota of His creative or sustaining power.  He is today as He always has been or ever will be.  God created all that is and is able to handle whatever you bring to Him.

God never grows tired or weary.  He has no time to get tired or weary in.  He is always in the moment.  We measure time, but God doesn’t.  He is forever the living and energetic Spirit of all that is.  He put things in place and holds them together by the power of His word.  It is impossible for God to ever run out of power to keep things going.

We cannot understand God, but God understands all things, including us.  He understands how to run the universe, and He understands how to run our lives.  He understands when we grow tired and weary and how to revive our souls.  He understands what has made us weary and what is yet to come.  He knows when we reach our level of endurance and is always ready to help us. 

When we turn to the Lord and trust Him, He gives power to overcome our tiredness and weariness.  No matter how weak we may be, there is strength in the Lord.  All who turn to Him will find the vitality they need to keep on going.  All we have to do is accept our helplessness and let Him take over and help us.  We all get weary, no matter who we are.  We all need the Lord.

Life in Christ is difficult.  Everyone goes through times in which their faith is tested.  Everyone gets worn out in the struggles to stay right with God.  We need to be honest about it.  Our endurance level is challenged from time to time.  If it isn’t, then we are not living right with God.  We need the Lord.  We need to stay strongly connected with Him.  We must always find our strength in the Lord and not ourselves.  In our own strength we will stumble and fall; in the Lord’s strength we will overcome.

Is. 40:25-26 "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One.

Is. 40:25-26  “To whom will you compare me?  Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.  Look up into the heavens.  Who created all the stars?  He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name.  And he counts them to see that none are lost or have strayed away.

Isaiah is writing to those who believe there is God.  They have a somewhat good understanding that God can be known on a personal basis.  They believe in God as the Creator of all things.  He then challenges them to consider the magnitude of God.  Is there anyone, or anything, that can come close to the greatness of God?  Think about it for a moment.

God created all the stars of heaven.  If not God, then where did they come from, a random occurrence in nature billions of years ago?  Hardly.  It stretches the limits of imagination to try and explain the universe without God as the source of it all.  God created the stars, but not just the stars; He created all that exists.  To comprehend such intelligence and power is beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend.  Compare what man is capable of doing with what God has done and we are overwhelmed and driven to our knees in worship.

Not only has God created what we see, He has each star numbered and named.  He knows exactly how long they have been and how long they shall be.  God gives each star a lifespan, just like He does us.  Each star has a specific reason for being and when it no longer is needed, it dies out.  Think about it.  We know that there are billions of stars in the universe.  God knows each one and has personally identified each one.  We will never be able to know the whys of their existence.  All we can do is bow in awe before God who created them and holds them in their place for as long as they are needed.

Do you think that God is limited and cannot help you with whatever you face in life?  Is God limited and unable to handle the spiritual needs of billions of people at the same time?  Is there anything that is beyond God’s ability to handle?  Of course not.  It is utter foolishness to deny that God can help you with whatever you face in life.  His abilities are incomprehensible, but very real.  He is actively at work in all who will let Him.  

Quit trying to leave God out of the mix.  Let the Lord do what only He can do in your life.  He has nothing but good in mind for you.  Will you let Him have His way with you today?

Isaiah 40:6-8 What God has spoken is absolute and never changes.

Is. 40:6-8  A voice said, “Shout!”  I asked, “What should I shout?”  “Shout that people are like the grass that dies away.  Their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of flowers in a field.  The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD.  And so it is with people.  The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

This is a message that must be heard.  We are not immortal in the flesh.  There is no “fountain of youth.”  We grow old and our bodies show it.  If per chance one’s body doesn’t show it, it knows it.  We can’t do what we once did.  We have more aches and pains than we did in our youth.  We can’t escape the fact that life as we know it changes and is slipping away.  We know with each passing year that our life span is getting shorter and shorter.  Before we even realize it, we are there.  Our bodies and minds begin to fail us.

But, there are two things we can count on to never fail us: the life of God in us and the Word of God given to sustain us.  Foundational to all truth is a belief in an unchangeable God.  God is as He always has been and ever will be.  There can be no absolute truth in life without an absolute and unchanging God.  God will never fail to be who He is in us.  He is the great I AM who dwells in us as we live in Christ.

What God has spoken is absolute and never changes.  God says what He means and means what He says.  It is a binding today as the day it was given.  We may not understand it all, but our lack of understanding does not change the truth of it all.  We must strive to learn and live what we can and believe the rest by faith because it comes from God.

Shout the message loud and clear.  Don’t put your trust in the beauty of the flesh.  It grows old and soon passes away.  Don’t think that the life you now know will last forever.  Put your trust in God and His Word which are eternal and never change.

Isaiah 35:3-4 Salvation is coming!

Is. 35:3-4  With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourge those who have weak knees.  Say to those who are afraid, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemiies.  He is coming to save you.”

Salvation is coming!  Dear friend, we must never forget this wondrous truth.  Life can be very rough at times and the world is not getting any better.  It is getting harder and harder to live out a life of faith in peace.  Satan is on the prowl and stirring up the world against Christ.  Things are moving forward rapidly in preparation for Christ’s coming.  Don’t let the state of the world overwhelm you.  Salvation is coming!

Don’t look around you and get caught up in how bad things are.  Look up, for our redemption draws near.  Are you tired of the struggles?  Salvation is coming!  Is your soul weary?  Salvation is coming!  Do you feel like you are swimming up a creek without a paddle?  Salvation is coming!  Are you being harassed because of your faith?  Salvation is coming!  Does it seem like nothing good is happening in your life?  Salvation is coming!

Oh, beloved of the Lord, let this wondrous truth strengthen your soul.  You are not forgotten or forsaken.   The Lord knows all about your struggles.  He knows your weariness.  He knows how life saps your strength.  He knows how hard it is to live a godly life in an ungodly world.  He understands how you feel and He wants you to know today, “Salvation is coming!”. 

The Lord is coming to destroy the enenimies of your soul.  He is going to put an end to the constant battles you fight.  He has overcome the world and will save you from your enemies.  We don’t know how soon He is coming, but we do know He is.  He is going to put an end to the madness.  Trust Him.  Persevere.  It is worth the struggles.  We are going to witness the subduing of the world.  We are going to see our Lord in all His glory.  Salvation is coming!

The Lord may make life easier for you now, or He may not.  If He doesn’t, He will give you all you need in order to overcome and be victorious in your struggles.  He has not, nor will He ever, leave you alone to fight your battles of life.  He loves you and is with you.  Call on Him and He will strengthen you and give you an overwhelming peace each step you take in your journey of life.  Look up, for your redemption is near.  Salvation is coming!  Praise the name of the Lord!

Isaiah 30:18 The Lord is waiting on you to come to Him.

Is. 30:18  But the LORD still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.  For the LORD is a faithful God.  Blessed are those who wait for him to help them.

The Lord is waiting for you to come to Him.  He wants to show you His love for you.  He wants to shower you with His compassion. 

There is always an open invitation from the Lord for us to come to Him.  He is patiently waiting for us.  He has so much love to give us, if we would only go to Him.  There are so many excuses we come up with to not approach the Lord, but none of them make any sense at all.  When we consider what the Lord promises to do for us when we come to Him,  it is utter foolishness to stay away from Him.   There is nothing that can compare to being loved by God. 

God’s love is so far above anything else man can ever know.  It is the most precious possession man can ever hope to obtain.  To be loved by God means that He will accept us just as we are, no strings attached.  He will not treat us any differentely than anyone else.  He will never expect us to be who we are not.  He will never treat us in a way that is not good for us.  He will never stop loving us.  He longs to make himself known to us in a very personal way.  He longs to shower us with compassion. 

The Lord is faithful to those who love Him.  All we have to do is to submit ourselves to Him.  We must be willing to live life God’s way.  We must not seek our own agenda, but we must seek His.  We must wait on the Lord and conform ourselves to His righteousness.  The Lord will show His love to those who flee to Him and let Him have His way with them.

We tend to not want to wait for the Lord to help us.  We get in such a hurry and want to make things happen now and in our own way.  However, for those who are wise enough to wait for the Lord to help them, they are blessed.  They discover they worry a whole lot less.  They discover that there is a peace that wasn’t there before because they know the Lord’s helping hand is so much better than whatever we could do with our own hands.  Those who wait on the Lord enjoy the journey of life so much more than those who don’t.

Is. 30:15 Return to the Lord.

Is. 30:15  The Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel says, “Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved.  In quietness and confidence is your strength.  But you would have none of it!”

Some of you reading this today have wandered away from the Lord.  You know you have and you are miserable.  Things just are not right with your soul; peace eludes you.  You may be trying to put on a good front so that others don’t suspect anything is wrong.  You may be trying not to think about it in the hopes that what is bothering you will go away. 

Some of you just gradually wandered away from the Lord.  You have neglected your soul and it has gotten to the point where you no longer know the peace of God.  You no longer take an interest in reading your Bible or praying.  Missing church doesn’t bother you.  You find yourself more and more likely to fall into sin.  You have a bad attitude about life.  You are mean to others.  You are only concerned about you and what pleases you.  You look in the mirror and you don’t like what you see.  You wonder how it could have happened.

We wander away from God when we do not properly feed our souls on a regular basis.  We need to be reading and studying God’s Word daily.  We need to be constantly searching the Word for things we need to do with our lives.  We need to be looking for things that are not right with our souls.  We need to read the Word with the expectation of needing to change.  We need to read it knowing that we fall short of God’s holiness and must have His help to stay pure.  We must always see ourselves in need of God.  Don’t believe Satan’s lies that you can get along without it; you can’t.  It is a very big deal for those who want to be with God someday.

We wander away from God when we don’t pray on a regular basis.  We need to stay in touch with Him.  We need to be prayer-minded.  We need to constantly stay in touch with the Lord.  We need to always bring the Lord into the mix of our living.  Being in an attitude of prayer never loses its importance for those who want to see God.

We wander from God when we don’t worship Him on a regular basis.  God created us with a need for worship.  Everyone is a worshiper; it’s just a matter of who or what we worship.  We must never loose our sense of worship before God, our adoration of Him, our sense of gratitude and praise. 

Don’t be like those who wander away from the Lord and refuse to return to Him.  Humble yourself before God, confess your sins to Him, seek His forgiveness, and you will once again know the peace of God.  Don’t settle for anything less than knowing it is well with your soul.