It’s finally Friday…and I’m Pastor James.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
Isaiah 40:27-31 (NRSV)
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 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.
29 He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted,
31 but those 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.
I am a distracted driver. I like to look at the land, the trees, the wildlife, the houses…I even get distracted by the trash laying on the side of the road at times. The REAL problem with my driving this way is the fact that I tend to steer in the direction I am looking. This may sound funny, but it has led to more than a few occasions when my wife has yelped like a whipped puppy to return my attention to the task at hand. Of course, I always react with utmost gratitude for these reminders. Not really. My meanderings across the center line, off the edge of the road, and nearly striking multiple obstacles…to include a few mailboxes…has led to many times of distress.
None of us like times of distress, confusion, or trouble. Unfortunately, times like these are common to the human experience, however, and can leave us hurt, tired, and sometimes in despair. For the Christian, much like the audience hearing this proclamation of the prophet Isaiah, there will be times in all of our lives when if feels like God is not paying attention, is a distracted driver, and is allowing our lives to veer out of control toward certain ruin.
The Message Translation puts it this way:
God has lost track of me.
He doesn’t care what happens to me.
Isaiah 40:27 (MSG)
Who says that? Isaiah answers that question with some identifiers. They are the faint (v. 29), the weary (v. 30), the powerless (v. 29), and the exhausted (v. 30). Maybe you are there, today. Quite possibly you are weary and exhausted in the face of the daily grind of life…or, you are feeling powerless in the face of a health scare or “terminal” diagnosis. Whatever label your challenge wears, whatever name your enemy has, whatever place you find yourself emotionally, spiritually, or physically, hear the word of the Lord today:
28 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.
29 He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted,
31 but those 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.
In spite of my obvious failings at driving, Marjorie still trusts me to drive. When the need arises, she still voices her concern that I am not in control or I appear to be unaware of that mailbox to the right. I am a distracted driver. That’s the bad news. The good news: God is neither distracted or unaware. He is not surprised or threatened. He has not abandoned and is not neglecting. He can be trusted. Wait on Him. In other words, trust God to take the wheel and drive.