Remember God & The Work He Assigned For Us – To Live In Him & For Him

Word-of-the-Day: ‘(28) 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. (29) He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.’ (Isaiah 40:28-29)

We often find ourselves in situations where, if we need to depend on ourselves or others, will become defeated and overwhelmed.  Even Righteous men and women will find themselves in desperation over troubles, or in temptation they believe they cannot shake off.  As Christians, we cannot ignore the world around us; we cannot be ostriches sticking our heads and think that ignoring the world will make it magically better.  If anything, such actions by Christians make the troubles double as there is no one to counter the falsehoods spewed by our enemy, Satan, over the majority of the people, the unsaved.

Wishing for things to return to normal is not possible, as the normal of today has replaced it – Christian morals and values have been replaced with secular thought.  The old ‘normal’ didn’t disappear due to the ‘new’ normal being bigger, better, or stronger; it was pushed aside as Christians were told it was better to be meek, and taught ‘meekness’ was equivalent to ‘weakness’.  We replaced standing steadfast and firm on Truth with tolerance, that we are to accept that some are ‘just the way they are’, in their chosen sin.

For years we have let this mindset grow, and with our head in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich, we’ve believed someone else will fix the problems.  ‘It’s the pastor’s job to witness to those people’; or ‘God will take of care the debauchery on His own’.   When the problems don’t disappear, the mindset then becomes, ‘perhaps God has abandoned us’, or ‘I guess we’ll wait until Jesus returns and then things will get straightened out’.  Both trains of thought are sinful and not in obedience of what Jesus has required from us to do in His name.

I’ve got good news, but it means we may need to roll up our sleeves.  First, let’s understand the problem is not the ‘new normal’; it is we have chosen to ignore our surroundings and not stand up for the Truth.  We need to pull our heads out of the sand and confront the problems we face head-on, with Godly courage and determination.  This is the context of Isaiah 40; God, through Isaiah, gives Israel a ‘pep talk’ to remember what they once held onto but forgot:  God is in control, He has not and will not change as He is unchanging, and He has our back when we need to confront the harsh realities of life.

In two passages of Isaiah 40, the phrase ‘Do you not know? Have you not heard?’ is given (Isaiah 40:21 and Isaiah 40:28) to remind the people about God and His power.  The phrase questioning the Israelites is a ‘subtle’ elbow to the ribs, for them to reengage their relationship with God, in order to face their impending exile to Babylon about 100 years later around 590 BC, a consequence of their sin, set in motion by Hezekiah’s pride by showing off Israel’s wealth to the Babylonian envoys in Isaiah 39. 

Both Judah and Israel, before and after Hezekiah’s reign, had bouts of paganism and secularism, turning away from God and toward Ba’al, Molech, or other idol worships and religions.  One parallel we can draw between the Israel of Isaiah’s time and our current times is this turning away, in part due to an acceptance or tolerance of ‘well, that’s just the way they are’ instead of confronting the sin through the power of God.  Part of it is fear of retribution by society, and part of it is the selfish realization that ‘going along to get along’ often means one can join in for immediate, pleasurable self-gratification at the expense of selfless obedience to God that requires sacrifice of such pursuits.

The deck of cards we dealt ourselves seems to be stacked against us, as it likely appeared to the Israelites as they were marched eastward to Babylon.  But God encouraged them to remember and return to Him, and in return they would return to the Promised Land.  There would be consequences; they had to rebuild the nation, rebuild Jerusalem, and rebuild the Temple.  It would no longer have the splendor or the riches as before.  They also would be subjects to foreigners; Babylonians, Greeks and Romans before the Diaspora or Great Scattering would occur.  But as God promised, His strength was provided so Nehemiah, Ezra, and the others returning from the exile would rebuild and again worship Him in the Temple.

We too can turn the United States back to being a Christian nation, as some in England are attempting to do, with a steeper hill to climb.  It takes each of us, not just the pastor or the Elders, and not just waiting for Jesus’ return, to be obedient, to remember that we have heard and we do know the Word of the Lord; to go and do the Great Commission and stand Faithful, confronting the lies of the secular ‘woke’ world with His Truth and proclaiming the Saving Grace of Christ through openly sharing His Gospel, through both deeds and words.  It is a long battle, and it is tiring and sometimes we may get discouraged, but God doesn’t tire, and He won’t let us tire, either – if we simply ask Him for His hand to strengthen us to accomplish His assignment.