by Janet Yang Kim
Isaiah 40:27-31
Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
—
It is often our temptation to take the surrounding circumstances at face value. In this text the Israelites were held in captivity by the Babylonians for over an entire generation! Are we not often like the Israelites—having short-sighted faith, complaining, feeling forgotten—when in our judgement it seems the Lord has overlooked us? Prophet Isaiah challenges them, however, and reminds them of God’s promise of Israel’s restoration and the rebuilding of the temple. Even in the midst of our grumbling, God’s desire is to comfort us. How then can we be comforted?
Remember who God is. What is God’s character? ‘The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.’ Like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s prayer, ‘Our Father who art in heaven,’ the first thing we must do is acknowledge that our God sits in the heavenly realms. He is beyond us and our understanding. He is the Creator of the known and the unknown universe. We do not know the vastness of God as the Creator, nor do we even know the fullness of His creation. We have yet to discover the limits of the observable universe and our God is bigger than even that! He is the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end. There is none before or after. This is just one facet of God where we must start by acknowledging that He is beyond our understanding. And yet, He made Himself known to us by coming down in humility, becoming man because of His primary character, which is that of love.
Remember what He does. ‘He will not grow tired or weary.’ Even upon forming and maintaining His creation, He will not grow tired or weary. God also never grows tired or weary of our poor attitudes, just as He takes time here to comfort the complaining Israelites. ‘His understanding no one can fathom.’ His wisdom and understanding are unsearchable! However, it is not only His knowledge that we cannot comprehend, but we will never fully know the extent of His affection towards us. ‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.’ This strength is reserved for those who know they are weak and have no might apart from God. Our God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, almighty God, but because of His overarching character of love and grace, His desire is to strengthen us when we are weary from the fight.
Remember what we can do. First, this is what we cannot do apart from God. Absolutely nothing can be sustained by the perseverance or effort of man alone. ‘Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.’ We will always fall short by our own might. However, ‘those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.’ This reserved strength is for those who depend wholly on God. This concept of ‘hoping in,’ or ‘waiting on,’ the Lord is not passive. As we actively seek out His presence and walk out our faith, He will renew our strength. The ESV Study Bible notes that renew infers an unending supply of strength. What would you do if you truly believed you had an unending supply of strength to persevere in your faith walk? ‘They will soar on wings like eagles.’ The amount of strength He provides is not just a measly quantity to only get us by, but we can access a measure of strength that allows us to soar above the circumstances. ‘They will run and not grow weary.’ We can run the race set out for us (2 Tim. 4:7), pressing on towards the prize. ‘They will walk and not be faint.’ Day by day, we can walk alongside Christ and not be overcome. The promise is not that He will change our circumstances, but that He will give us the strength to persevere through them.
You are known by God. Your struggles are known by God. Just as the Israelites, we need a reminder of God’s willingness to strengthen and comfort us. The Lord knows sometimes that allowing us to go through something can be painful temporarily. A good father mourns with his suffering child. Jesus took on the greatest pain of all and suffered on our behalf. In the same way, His desire is to redeem your fleeting pain for the future glories. His faithfulness is the fulfilled promise over us. And this is all that we may gain the prize, who is Christ Himself.