27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:27–31
To me, this is one of the most, if not the most, inspiring passages in all of scripture. It is featured prominently in the 1981 movie, Chariots of Fire, when Eric Liddell reads it before the congregation as his Olympic race, the one he refused to compete in on the Lord’s day, is underway. I had already committed the passage to memory by the time I saw the movie, and having run track as a sprinter for six years in school (“the Lord made me fast”), I was reduced to mush, as they say, feeling deeply the magnitude of his sacrifice and commitment.
There are some huge takeaways in Isaiah’s words. How dare we think or say that the Lord does not see or understand our plight in life, nor does he care. More importantly, that for any reason, we are due some special treatment from God. Oh, he hears and sees us. He just waiting for us to acknowledge and comprehend who and what he is. The Lord is clearly by these words sovereign, and the prophet continues to pile on superlatives.
We should try referring our God as “everlasting,” as “THE LORD,” as “the creator of the ends of the earth,” rather than figuratively or literally “the man upstairs.” Those in our spheres of influence should hear us describe him as infatigable and inscrutable as we pray to him, as one who can solve the insolvable. We don’t know how, but he can, and he will do the impossible, if he so chooses.
Some of us need no reminder of how weak we are, but for good measure, the Lord tends to make doubly sure that we know we are nobody without him. Would we not want to know this without a shadow of a doubt at the infusion of his power to rescue us, so that we can give all the glory to him? We tend to remember these “dire straits” experiences better if all hope has been lost, don’t we?
The above happens more to the strong and vigorous who tend to strike out initially on their own without counting the costs, only to be lapped by the those who “wait for the Lord.” Isaiah would prefer the youthful and inexperienced to forgo the hard lessons and wait up for God to lead the way. In doing so, we’ll not only become airborne but soar, we’ll run without flagging, and our last step will be as strong as our first.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:7–10
Leave a Reply