“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.” What beautiful words from the prophet Isaiah chapter 40 verse 28 and following! The verse sums up so much about the difference between our short sighted life experiences and the Lord’s eternal outlook.
Less familiar to our ears is the verse immediately preceding these words which indicates the attitude of doubt God’s people had which brought about the majestic pronouncement of verse 28, Verse 27 reads: “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right hand is disregarded by my God?”
We hear all of the time in worship how great and mighty is our God. In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 40 we hear how God is the one who sits above the circle of the earth, and it’s inhabitants are like grasshoppers. In the Psalm of the day we heard how God determines the number of the stars, ‘Great is our Lord, and abundant in power, his understanding is beyond all measure.’
In the midst of this greatness of the LORD we may feel small in comparison. Could it be that such a mighty God could ever notice us? How could my insignificant life make a difference to God? Does the LORD almighty really care for me? The people of Israel apparently felt this way, doubting whether the LORD really cares for them or is able to help them, as if their very way is somehow hidden from the LORD. Their question of doubt was: “LORD can you really save us?”
In response to this lack of faith the LORD does not punish the people, but instead points them to the truth of how dedicated their God is in caring for them.
Our God does not grow weary so that the humble and insignificant in this world are not forgotten. In our gospel lesson Jesus demonstrated this remembrance of the insignificant and the downtrodden as he healed many who were sick and cast out many demons.
Jesus who is the everlasting God, the creator of the world, He does not grow weary in his dedication in caring for us. Jesus gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Jesus showed this ability to strengthen the weak as he healed all of the sick and cast out demons from those who were oppressed.
After Jesus went to a quiet place to pray early in the morning, Simon and others were searching for him. “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus knew what was in the heart of man, that people can have their own motivations to seek him in a way where they are not seeking God’s care and provision, but instead their fill of what they want in terms of human needs.
In John Chapter 6 with the feeding of the 5,000 we hear of another instance where after Jesus gave attention to the needs of the multitudes of people, they want to take more from Jesus. The scripture says “Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Still the people pursued Jesus, even getting into boats to cross the sea of Galilee to find him. When they finally made it to Jesus he told them “Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
Jesus made it clear that he has come not just to heal and set at liberty a few, but all. “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” That is why I came out. Jesus came out to preach to all, to heal all. He came for even the most insignificant among us- not on our terms of what we demand we need, but on His terms based on what we truly need, life and salvation in Him.
Like those in our Old testament lesson who felt “My way is hidden from the LORD” , We may feel like our needs are insignificant to the creator of this world. We may feel that nobody truly cares about our needs when our back is against the wall.
It is our human sinful nature that we so quickly feel abandoned. We should not mistake it for the truth of how things are. The Father saw our great need ever since the Fall into sin and promised to send us the Savior. He does not faint or grow weary: His understanding is unsearchable. Our needs have never been too much for our God to handle.
Even today in worship, as we confessed our sins and heard the words of absolution, Jesus was present with us. He cares for us through the amazing authority to take all of the sins we have committed in the past week and count them all as forgiven because of his sacrifice on the cross. Instead of seeing our sin the Father sees the Righteousness of Christ covering us.
How often do we look at problems in our life and see them as unsurmountable? When I was younger I used to think some people just have things easy. Now, especially doing counseling through the difficulties people face in life- I see that adversity and all maneer of trials comes to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ in this fallen world, likely just as much as we face ourselves.
We know our own limitations and we see with clarity that we do not have what it takes to meet the challenges before us. But we are not meant to take on the challenges of our lives on our own. ‘Even young men grow faint and weary.’ It is with the help of the LORD that we can run and not be weary and walk and not be faint.
Through Holy Baptism God’s people are called to a walk of life where each and every day we commit ourselves that we belong to the Lord and we desire to walk in a manner worthy of this calling as His people.
I often hear people talk in terms of feeling like they do not do enough in their faith to please God- as if it is our role to impress God with how well we can live our lives.
But it is not the accomplishments we obtain that pleases the Lord, but our reliance and trust in Him. As we heard in the Psalm of the day: “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
We often wish challenges in our life would come together and resolve themselves over night. Certainly, we would like to see a congregation’s financial challenges resolved, and other barriers to a healthy church removed over night.
Yet it is in waiting for the Lord to answer prayer that we receive spiritual strength from the LORD. If things come along easy we would easily boast in our own strength. When progress in life takes time and patience our faith grows as we wait to see how His kingdom comes among us.
Waiting on the LORD requires that we see that there are no other options- we cannot push through things to completion on our own. It may not be easy for us, but we need to accept there are no other options for our lives to move forward in health and wholeness apart from waiting on the LORD.
Our fallen human nature leads us to the type of frantic worry that suggests we think Jesus may not come through for us, and that we better learn to fend for ourselves just in case.
Instead, we wait on the LORD through a confidence that YHWH will come through for us exactly as he promises in his own time.
As we wait on the LORD we have strength. The eagle uses the wind for its strength, this is part of the illustration God’s Word uses when it says ‘they who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength.’
Eagles soar after positioning themselves high on a rock and waiting for the wind to come and lift them. As we wait on the LORD through difficulties and hardships in life and wait in faith, we will with the LORD’s care for us in due time soar.
It is said that Eagles are the most committed of birds in protecting their young. Deuteronomy 32:11 reads: “Like an Eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions.”
This is a picture of the commitment Jesus has for us, that he will not allow one of us to perish and will cover us with His wings of protection. May this care be known to you richly as you hear his word day by day and receive his forgiveness and wholeness. Amen.