To Encourage You

Isaiah 40:25-31 “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.”

As we all faced the coronavirus crisis together, taking one day at a time, did you find yourself thinking, “Where is God in a time like this?”  It’s a question that may face a person countless times in their lifetime, and it’s a question that has faced mankind since the beginning of time.  So, is there an answer?  Where is God in such times?  Indeed, is there a God?  How can there be when people are getting sick and dying across the face of the whole earth?  Where is He when people are losing their jobs through no fault of their own?  Does He see us in such times? Does He know we exist? Does He even care? 

Thankfully, for the believer, there are answers to all these questions.  We find one such answer, a powerful one, in the passage above.  You see, the nation of Israel had all those questions at the time of the prophet Isaiah.  Here was a nation that had faced hardship time after time throughout their history.  Often that hardship was brought on as judgment for their sin, but in every instance, there was always a remnant of people who served God faithfully in the midst of the godlessness of so many around them.  Isaiah was one such example. We are told that he lived during the reigns of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1).  Uzziah, Jotham, and Hezekiah were kings that followed the Lord. Ahaz, on the other hand, was wicked, as were many of the people who lived in the land.  They were all kings in the southern kingdom of Judah at a time when the kingdom of Israel was divided.  The northern kingdom was called Israel, and each and every one of Israel’s kings was wicked.  It was because of Israel’s sin that the Assyrian army invaded the northern kingdom and threatened the kingdom of the south. Isaiah spoke of this and he also spoke of the coming Babylonian captivity that would enslave Judah.  It was in the face of these horrific times that God spoke the words above.  They are words of comfort in the face of trial. They are words of the way things really are, no matter how things may appear. 

So, is there a lesson for us in these words?  Is there an answer to the question of “Where is God in a time like this?”  Well, the answer is “He’s right where He’s always been. The omnipresent One, Immanuel (i.e., “God with us”) is right here with us even now.  As the Lord asked ancient Israel, so He is asking us, “Why do you say, America, Italy, Spain and China, ‘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.”  While we may not understand what’s happening, and while we may think everything is out of control, the Lord is right there where He’s always been, and He is in control of it all. 

But what’s even more wonderful for the believer is the rest of this message.  It’s the truth that this trial, like all other trials in the lives of each and every Christian, will one day end.  It’s the truth that “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.” You see, for the believer, every trial has a limit.  Every difficulty will absolutely come to an end.  Often this deliverance comes in this life, but if not it most certainly will end in the next.  As Jesus told the disciples, whom He loved with the same love He had for His Father as He prophesied their future, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” 

So, believer, hold on!  In your temptation to ask, “Where is God?” know that He is right here.  And this trial, like all other trials, will one day end, while the blessings and wonders of a life in the presence of Christ will go on forever.