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.

Isaiah 40:31 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible, it’s on pictures, posters, calendars, cross-stitch, we quote it, memorize it, and preach it, but do we really get it. What we love about this verse is the end product, strength, but what about the process that Isaiah says it takes, waiting? The NIV uses the word hope, where the KJV says those that wait, what does this word “wait” really mean? In Hebrew there are many different words for wait but here the word means to hope strongly, to trust, it literally means to expect. It is putting our trust and confidence in God with an expectancy, a certainty, that He is going to respond. Even though the Israelites were living in captivity in Babylon, with no prospect of deliverance humanly speaking, Isaiah was encouraging them to wait with a fixed expectancy that their God, at just the right time in His plan, would deliver them. Today we as believers are waiting for the return of Christ, I don’t live saying that I hope it will happen, but I’m not quite sure that it will. No, I’m saying that I am waiting with a sure expectancy that this event is going to happen, that I know it is going to happen. When Isaiah says “wait”, he is referring to a sure expectancy. Our expectancy is that The Lord will renew our strength, the problem for us today is we see this word renew as replacing what was there with more of the same. May see this as, “I was strong, got worn down and God will restore my strength”, but it doesn’t say restore it says renew. To renew means to change, to pass from one state to another, this is literally changed strength. What Isaiah is telling us to do is to wait expectantly for an exchange, an exchange of strength, ours for His. This is not about increasing our self strength, by building it back up to where it was, for even at full capacity my strength is insufficient. We need a different strength on that is not weak and unable to live out what He calls us to do. For we can’t live the life The Lord has for us in our own strength. Exchanging my strength for His strength isn’t just replacing its upgrading, we are exchanging our weak, finite, limited, exhaustible strength for His strong, infinite, unlimited, inexhaustible strength. Most people desire a good deal, so much that they are willing to wait for it. This deal that God offers, well it doesn’t get much better than this. Yet we will line up and wait for the after holiday sales while baulking but when it comes to waiting on God we whine. Isaiah reminds us that those who with sure expectancy look to God, will have their strength exchanged for His. James reveals the same idea in James 1:5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” He is saying come to the Lord, ask for wisdom with a sure expectancy that He is going to give you what you need, which is exchanging your wisdom for His. God is not adding to or increasing your wisdom but gives you a different kind of wisdom, His wisdom. We must have an expectancy, not doubting, this is not us saying, “I sure hope the Lord will give me the wisdom I need. I don’t know if He will but it’s worth a shot.” No, James says, ask with expectancy, with an assured confidence that God will give you His wisdom in exchanged for yours. We have a God who longs to replace the puny with power, to exchange our inability with the infinite. Notice what happens when His strength is exchanged for mine, the result is revealed in 3 metaphors. The first speaks of overcoming a natural impossibility, flying, the next two speak of overcoming two natural weaknesses, running and not tiring and walking without becoming weary. These are impossible things, I cannot fly, but I remember as a kid, fantasize about being a superhero who could, able to soar through the sky, and I am sure I’m not alone in this! Or running without tiring, its an impossibility no matter how good a shape you are in. The point is that God’s strength is supernatural, able to sidestep the impossible, scaling our physical limitations in a single bound. Isaiah is telling us that we will be able to overcome the impossible and live in a way that we could not live before. In a way that would have been impossible in the past. The exciting news here is that not only has God not forgotten us but He has made a way for us to overcome. The problem is that for many of us instead of praying for God to transform self we pray for Him to change our situation. Flying is not about a situation change, its a self transformation, God wants to change our hearts not our hangups. Everyday we face all sorts of impossible situations, whether it is loving other people or accepting each other. Whether it is not loosing our temper or getting frustrated and angry over a situation or person. Whether it is in dying to self in some area of our lives, or having an attitude of submission or giving up my rights. We all face many impossible situations, impossible in terms of living the way God desires and has called us to. When we collide with these impossible situations we know what God wants, what He says and what He commands us to do, we know how we are suppose to respond. But often we will say “But God, I can’t do it, it’s impossible, I can’t live the way You want me to or respond the way you desire me to in this situation.” Thats when He gently reminds us of Isaiah 40:28, encouraging us to wait on Him and exchange our limitations for His love. A.W. Tozer said it this way, “we have switched from our little human battery to the infinite power of God.” This idea of exchange describes the entire Christian life, which is the call to live an exchanged life. The central foundation of the christian life lies in the amazing atonement of Jesus Christ. A transfer of guilt from the sinner to the Savior, 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ’s sacrifice by His death on the cross made it possible for me, a sinner, to exchange my sin for the Saviors righteousness. Its foundational and its only the beginning, almost everything hereafter is an exchange of something worse for something better. We exchange wrath for acceptance, death for life, weakness for grace, mortality for immortality, fear for peace. You see the result of waiting on God is fourfold. First we will experience Inward strength, strength that gives us the power overcome temptation. Just as the people in Isaiah’s day, who trapped in their captivity were tempted to turn and run from God, so are we. We will all face times where we are tempted to bail instead of believe. There are also many other areas of temptation and because we are tempted to give in to our weak flesh we need more than just physical strength we need moral strength. Second we need upward strength, to mount up with wings as eagles. Colossians 3:2 tells us to “Set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Living life soaring above the circumstances, living with an upward, eternal perspective. Eagles soar effortlessly because they use thermals to lift them up not the constant flapping of their own wings. The same should be true for us, we need to lear to soar on the currents of His commands not comfort and convenience. Christians are called to live upward lives, sure there are many ups and downs in this life, but when we wait on God He gives us victory to soar even over the downs. Third we need outward strength, to run and not row weary. Galatians 6:9 reminds us to “not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Isaiah did not say those that sit but those who run. Because the fourth strength we need is onward. The Christian life is one lived in motion moving forward toward the finish line. We are all tempted to slack and make it about self. Galatians 5:7 asks us a powerful and piercing question: “You were running a good race. “Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” May be this is you, you have stopped running for Jesus. I know there have been periods in my life when this has been true for me. Mostly I think its because we try to run in our own strength, we grow weary, start to whine and then we want out. We all get tired but remember God can get you out of retirement. The race we run in this life is a marathon, we need onward strength, strength for the long haul, so we don’t tire and faint. Waiting on the Lord produces, inward, upward, outward, and onward strength. Today are you waiting on God, putting your trust and confidence in Him with an expectancy, a certainty, that He is going to do the impossible in your life?

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.

There are those tough times in life, when our situation seems to get the best of us, and its hard to follow our Father in faith. When everything goes against us, when we are in the middle of one of the greatest battles of our life, its hard to trust in God. Yet it is in these times that we need the Lord more than ever. You see it is in those times that our faith and trust in God is really put to the test. We need to learn to embrace these moments, for that is what they are mere moments, drops of difficulty in the scope of eternity. Yes embrace them because they reveal and refine our hearts. Showing us where and what we really are, like those tests we took in school, they give us a standard by which to gauge our progress. These are the moments of real contact in our lives, where the rubber meets the road, in our journey with Jesus. If we chose to flee and bail on our beliefs the moment it gets rough we will never realize the rest that we can have in the eye of the storm. If your life is in the middle of turmoil and the waves of temptation are about to swamp you, stop struggling, look to the Savior and surrender to His rest. These are the moments when trust is built, and our relationship with God shows its true depth. God never promised that it would be easy, that we wouldn’t have hard times. What He did promise is that He will never leave us nor forsake us, Hebrews 13:5. In Isaiah 40 we find that Israel had become so discouraged that God had to remind them of Who He is. When we are in the clutches of despair we need reminded, that life is not dictated by our circumstances but Christ, that God is in control, and even in the chaos we can experience His renewing rest. We have all fallen victim to prides vicious lie that we are more than we really are, causing us to trust in our own strength and security. Yet no matter what we think our reserves of strength may be, they are both feeble and finite. We pride ourselves in our ability to take care of ourselves, to conquer our own circumstances. To be the sole champion of all challenge, especially in America, where if we are not careful, pride in our freedom and independence can cause us to go it alone. We hate having to admit that we need help from anyone, including God. But this scriptures reminds us that no matter how strong or independent we think we are, we cannot do it alone. You see at some point our pride will be reduced in the rock crusher of reality, or shattered on the anvil of an Almighty God. Yet what sweet release to have our arrogance smashed against His anvil, where it can be annihilated, and our self absorbed confidence crushed to dust. Where we can live in the reality of truth instead of the fictional fantasy of self strength. To get through this life we all need strength, but unlike the anemic, deficient limits of self strength, God offers us His sustaining strength. In Isaiah we see that God has laid down the pattern for pursuing His sustaining strength. The first thing we need to realize is who God is, and that despite how we may feel, He is still at work in our lives. So often when we get trapped in the turbulent water of our trials we forget not only God’s power,but also His presence. Something that has always amazed me is how as Christians, myself included, we can read a passage of scripture, that is both challenging and convicting and yet say in response: “Yes, I agree in principle to what this verse or command says but my situation is different. We cry “But you just don’t comprehend my particular, even unique situation, because My situation is different.” This is nothing short of circumstantial conviction, and isn’t it amazing how we will make rules for others and exceptions for ourselves! We make exceptions for ourselves because in our mind our situation is unique, so it can’t apply to us. You see we love to quote the end of Isaiah 40 “They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” but we seem to forget that it was the disbelief and despondency of God’s people that prompted this passage. In verse 27 we see that God’s people were wavering, questioning God’s care and compassion. What Jacob and Israel were basically saying is, “Lord, you don’t understand our situation.” Sound familiar? They put it this way “Our way is hidden from the Lord, our situation escapes His notice.” I love Isaiah’s response, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? His understanding, including His understanding of your situation, is inscrutable. God is not like a judge or jury who are without all the facts, or who have the facts so twisted that they misrepresent them. No, His understanding of your situation, including every detail is inscrutable. God fully comprehends your situation, but often we waste our time whining about His lack of understanding when it is really us who are clueless. To you, the trial you are facing is very personal, it seems that no one else can relate or understand. But your circumstances are no surprise to God, your troubles don’t stress Him out. He knew what was coming and He already has the answer. There is no limit to His ability to meet your need, because He never grows tired or weary. Yet often God has to bring us to the place where we are forced to stop trying, so we can turn to Him and start trusting. We need these times in our lives where we have to say, “God, I can’t but you can” But for many we do this reluctantly even begrudgingly. Where the common Christian comment becomes “well I guess all we can do now is pray” God is waiting for us to trust, yet we keep trying, pushing on in our own self effort. Why do we wait until we have exhausted all of our own ideas with no results? So the question remains when you feel alone, trapped by your trials, are you going to respond to your feelings or rest in the facts? What will you do with the trials that you face, wether currently or in the future? Will you turn to your own devices, making decisions that will cause you to run and rebel. Leaving you to become so wrapped up in the business of providing your own solutions that you don’t have time for God, His church, and even your family? Will we forget the Word of God and become depressed, abandoning His promises, and forgetting our commitments to Christ. Will we throw aside the proof of His past provision, forgetting His faithfulness? What will we do when the perfect is replaced by pain? Will we respond with hopeless like Israel? Who chose a pity party over a prayer. It is time for us to stop our pity party, quit acting like it is the end of the world, and lift up our eyes to see the glory of God. To set our sights on the One who is surrounded by strength, seated far above our sad situation. Isaiah’s call is to put our hope in God not happiness. What is your hope in? Who are you resting in? I for one need the reminder that I will never truly rest until I learn to rely on my Redeemer. Sometimes we get discouraged by our situation and someone looking in on us might think we have been abandoned by the Almighty. Yet our hope is not based on our current circumstance but only Christ. Your painful situation is never a good gauge of His goodness and grace. It is these trials of pain that provide a platform for the defining moments of our lives. Will we trust in the trial or turn away? Will our faith and trust grow stronger, or will we abandon the ways of righteousness, turn our back on God, putting everything in your life in jeopardy. We can’t control our circumstances but we can control our choices. As Christians we will either learn to trust and place our hope in Christ or go through the continuous cycle of doubt, depression and despondency. Isaiah says that “his understanding no one can fathom, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” I wish I could say that I understand why God allows certain things to happen, but I can’t. His ways are far above mine and all I can do is put my trust in Him. Only God can give you the power to overcome. Only He can take your weaknesses, your failures, your doubts and fears, and turn them into a message of mercy. God is the only sustaining source of strength, we can’t do it on our own, even youths will grow tired and weary. I think the longer you live, the more you realize that everything is in God’s hands. Its easy to worry and work, to try and solve all of life’s problems ourselves. But faith trusts the Father, believing that everything will work out even when it seems that everything is not. Its easy to believe when we see it coming together but what about when its crumbling. In the seemingly crushing defeat will we still cling to faith? Faith says that I know, that I know, that somehow, God will work it all out. Here in Isaiah we have the reminder that God will renew those who wait. But waiting on God requires an audacious faith, one that believes in the impossible, looks for the unseen answers, hope in the times of hopelessness, and knows, without knowing why or how, that God will provide. Isaiah paints a majestic picture of an eagle effortlessly soaring in the sky. Yet it was not always that way for the eagle, as a baby in the nest he could do nothing but wait until the parent returned to bring what was needed to grow and mature him. I think today we want to walk without waiting, we want to fly without faith. Just like the chick, we need time in God’s nest and just like the baby eagle we will probably cry, scream, flap around and make a scene. Yet God will provide and if we wait on the Savior we will soar. When it comes to Isaiah 40, we quote it, we read it, we even preach it, but do we really believe it? If you are facing trials and tests then lift up your head, look to The Lord, because your answer is already on the way. Don’t listen to the lie of Satan, don’t allow him to convince you that all is lost. Instead wait upon the Lord, placing your whole heart into His hands. Rest in Him and He will renew your strength