Blessed be the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord for this new day In His Kingdom. The Lord blessed us with a very spring like day yesterday, and last evening was brilliant and beautiful. Yesterday was sunny and stunning. The Lord Blessed us with brilliant moon lit night. Alice and I walked for over 4 miles last night. The Full Moon was beaming brightly and the stars were shining gloriously.
The Old Testament reading for last Sunday was taken from Isaiah 40, one of the very powerful passages that declares about the Lord of Eternity and His steadfast permanence in a world that is transitory in its many aspects. When I was in graduate School in the late sixties of the last century, many philosophers and theologians were saying that God was dead, and predicting the death of the church. Today almost no one can remember the names of those who made those dire predictions, let alone the titles of their books, but the church of Jesus Christ is thriving and God is still very much alive.
In Isaiah 40 we read about the Word of God. God’s Word was God’s Word yesterday, it is God’s Word today, and it will be God’s Word 5000 years from now. Kingdoms will rise and fall. Ideas will come and go. The values of the world will change, but God’s Word will remain the one constant in a world of change and confusion.
The emperor Diocletian tried to revive the old pagan religions of Rome by persecuting and killing Christians. He set up a stone pillar in his own honor, inscribed with the words that he wanted to describe his legacy: “For Having Exterminated the Name Christian From the Earth.” How far short of his goal he fell! His monument was more of a tribute to the endurance of Christianity than it was to himself. Another Roman leader made a coffin, symbolizing his intention “to bury the Galilean” by killing Christ’s followers. He eventually admitted that he could not put the Master in his coffin. The Waldensians represented the history of the church with a picture of an anvil with many worn-out hammers lying all around it. At the bottom of the picture these words are inscribed: “One Anvil — Many Hammers.”
Isaiah told of an everlasting comfort, of the everlasting Word of God, and of an everlasting strength. It is written, “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” (Isaiah 40:28-31). Those who were in exile lost hope, and because of that they lost their strength and desire to go on. Even the young were beaten down, weary and defeated, but those who placed their hope and trust in God did not lose heart, and they did not lose strength — regardless of their age. Their hearts and minds soared as they thought about what God was going to do. As new strength and courage entered their hearts it began to affect their bodies. They gained a new enthusiasm for life and a new strength to go on. You never gain that strength unless you are willing to wait on the Lord.
Our God is an inexhaustible resource. He has never experienced fatigue or weakness in even the most remote sense. Isaiah then moved on to remind the people of Israel of what God does for all who trust in Him. Verse 29 states that "He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak." The very thing that we need most when we experience disappointment with God is what He already offers to us and supplies to us.
He is the source of all strength. In verse 30, we are given a universal truth that we often times forget: Everybody experiences weakness. Weakness is a perfect euphemism for describing the source of disappointments we face, including our disappointment with God. We experience disappointment because there are inherent weaknesses in the world in which we live. In verse 31 we are given a word of hope to help us to make it through life’s disappointments: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength." Yes, we will become weary as we encounter life’s disappointments, but that is not the final word. There is strength offered to those who will reach out and receive it.
"They will soar on wings like eagles." What a magnificent picture! Isaiah chose the image of one of the most majestic of all birds, the eagle, to describe this special impartation of strength by God. In a moment of ecstasy, God showers His strength upon the weary one in such a manner that the individual is “lifted” above life’s disappointments, like an eagle soaring on the wind.
"They will run and not grow weary." I envision Isaiah describing the kind of strength that came upon the prophet Elijah when he was enabled to outrun King Ahab, who had a head start riding on his chariot (1 Kings 18:44-46). This is another incredible visitation of God’s power upon an individual suffering from weakness.
God’s strength usually comes to us in the ordinary ways. We don’t live life soaring in the clouds or always running in the fast lane — life is more a matter of persistent walking. It is in the dark stretches of life that the most difficult thing to do is to continue to walk and not quit. It is when we are faced with disappointing circumstances that we need the strength to keep on pressing on. Then it is that we need a faith that stands firm and shouts defiantly, “Yes, I will believe God and His Word no matter what!”
Philip Yancey has written, “If we insist on visible proofs from God, we may well prepare the way for a permanent state of disappointment. True faith does not so much attempt to manipulate God to do our will as it does to position us to do his will” (Disappointment With God, p. 241).
I believe that Our Lord's primary goal for us, as His children, is to move us to the place where we trust in nothing but Him alone. He wants us to be completely dependent upon Himself. He will use whatever means He must to bring us to that place. We have an ageless God who is able to give us strength to overcome our weaknesses. The answer that He gives us is to demonstrate unwavering faith in the face of our disappointments and keep on believing that He will come and renew our strength so that we can walk and not become weary. Disappointments will come, but Jesus the Way, gives us the strength to keep on walking even when it hurts.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/1CBNE25rtnE
On FEBRUARY 11, 2012 Saturday, at First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott, at 5:30 PM - There will be a Special Banquet prepared by Joe Walker, including a variety of international Cuisine... It will be a great celebration. At 6:30 PM there will be a Hymn Sing with Aric Phinney at the Grand Piano and Yancey Moore at the Organ. Dave Berry will lead the Hymn Sing.
Sponsored by The Union Center UMC.
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