Isaiah 40:12 Who else has held the oceans in his hands and measured off the heavens with his ruler? Who else knows the weight of all the earth and weighs the mountains and the hills? 13 Who can advise the Spirit of the Lord or be his teacher or give him counsel? 14 Has he ever needed anyone’s advice? Did he need instruction as to what is right and best? 15 No, for all the peoples of the world are nothing in comparison with him—they are but a drop in the bucket, dust on the scales. He picks up the islands as though they had no weight at all. 16 All of Lebanon’s forests do not contain sufficient fuel to consume a sacrifice large enough to honor him, nor are all its animals enough to offer to our God. 17 All the nations are as nothing to him; in his eyes they are less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.
18 How can we describe God? With what can we compare him? 19 With an idol? An idol made from a mold, overlaid with gold, and with silver chains around its neck? 20 The man too poor to buy expensive gods like that will find a tree free from rot and hire a man to carve a face on it, and that’s his god—a god that cannot even move!
21 Are you so ignorant? Are you so deaf to the words of God—the words he gave before the world began? Have you never heard nor understood? 22 It is God who sits above the circle of the earth. (The people below must seem to him like grasshoppers!) He is the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 23 He dooms the great men of the world and brings them all to naught. 24 They hardly get started, barely take root, when he blows on them and their work withers, and the wind carries them off like straw.
25 “With whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
Look up into the heavens! Who created all these stars? As a shepherd leads his sheep, calling each by its pet name, and counts them to see that none are lost or strayed, so God does with stars and planets!
27 O Jacob, O Israel, how can you say that the Lord doesn’t see your troubles and isn’t being fair? 28 Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. 30 Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. 31 But they that wait upon 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.
When many of us hear the phrase “waiting on the Lord,” Isaiah 40:31 is the verse that immediately comes to mind. But it’s a mistake to take that verse out of context without considering what comes before it. The earlier verses in Isaiah 40 graphically describe God’s might, His power, and His glory. After all, what’s the point of waiting for someone if that individual is powerless to help?
18 How can we describe God? With what can we compare him? 19 With an idol? An idol made from a mold, overlaid with gold, and with silver chains around its neck? 20 The man too poor to buy expensive gods like that will find a tree free from rot and hire a man to carve a face on it, and that’s his god—a god that cannot even move!
25 “With whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
Look up into the heavens! Who created all these stars? As a shepherd leads his sheep, calling each by its pet name, and counts them to see that none are lost or strayed, so God does with stars and planets!
In the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy, the heroine, goes through one dangerous experience after another in the hopes of reaching an all-powerful wizard who can help her to return to her home in Kansas. Ironically, when Dorothy finally meets the wizard, she finds that he is a fake, an imposter, and powerless to help. When we try to depend on anyone or anything apart from the One True Living God, we are only deluding ourselves.
27 O Jacob, O Israel, how can you say that the Lord doesn’t see your troubles and isn’t being fair? 28 Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. 30 Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. 31 But they that wait upon 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.
Whenever something bad happens, people immediately begin to blame God, even if they have created the problems themselves. Ironically, God is the One who has created us and who knows exactly how much our bodies can take and how far we can be pushed. But then there’s also divine intervention.
I have spent nearly two decades working as the only doctor in mission hospitals in remote areas. There have been times when I have been so exhausted that I have wondered how I would be able to keep going. But each time I have despaired, God has either given me more strength or raised up others who can help lift part of the burden. I can testify that God has allowed me to “mount up on wings like eagles.”
God will not do for us what He wants us to do ourselves. But when we need supernatural strength, God will be there, manifesting Himself magnificently. Trust Him!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to wait for You to strengthen us and guide us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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