Isaiah was encouraging the Israelites, who were exiled in Babylon. He told the people that we are to live for God. This daily devotional looks at how waiting for God renews our strength.
Nuggets
- God is a living God that has no equal.
- Acknowledging that God is the Creator of the universe helps us to look to Him for renewal.
- Waiting for God’s timing through faith renews us.
Devotions in the Isaiah’s Message from Sovereign God series
Isaiah’s prophesy to the Israelites was one of hope. He comforted the people to show them that God would renew them. Let’s take a look.
Renewal through Living for and Worshiping God
“With whom will you compare God? What likeness will you set up for comparison with him? An idol? — something that a smelter casts and a metalworker plates with gold and makes silver chains for? A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not fall over” (Isa. 40: 18-20 CSB)
God is a living God that has no equal. We are renewed when we choose to live for Him. This leads to worshiping the One true God.
That doesn’t mean that we haven’t tried to foist our notions on God. We may not fall to our knees and worship something made of wood or stone, but we worship objects that takes from God the worship that is His due. That’s what an idol is.
You know, God could have made everything perfectly known to us. He could have told us how He did things, why He did them that way.
Instead, God clouds our understanding so that we have to belief. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved” (I Cor. 1: 18 CSB).
We have to have faith in God. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
God calls us to a new life. He calls us to change from our sinful ways and follow His laws and commandments.
We are not to puff ourselves up. We are to rely wholly on God’s provision.
God is looking for a steady pace, not a dash. We are in for the long haul.
Renewed by Our Sovereign Creator
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not considered the foundations of the earth? God is enthroned above the circle of the earth; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He reduces princes to nothing and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland. They are barely planted, barely sown, their stem hardly takes root in the ground when he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. ‘To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal?’ asks the Holy One. Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing” (Isa. 40: 21-26 CSB)
Isaiah reiterated that God is the Creator of the universe. Acknowledging this helps us to look to Him for renewal.
Isaiah asked a group of questions in order to draw out his readers’ true convictions — even if they were weak convictions. He had to have a starting point so that he could grow them to where God wanted them to be.
Who created the universe? God did. We really aren’t told how except that He spoke and lifted His arm. That is how powerful God is.
“God is enthroned above the circle of the earth …” (Isa. 40: 22 CSB). That is a good statement Isaiah made.
Remember, at that time they thought the world was flat. The only way Isaiah could have made that statement was because God had revealed to him that the world was round.
Think of that picture. Here we are on our own little piece of the circle, and God is above us on His throne, watching us.
But it isn’t an impersonal watching. God is active in our lives.
Talmage talked around the concept of going full circle. He reminded us that history repeats itself. He wrote, “The world must keep on progressing until it makes the complete circuit.”
Resource
Hmmm. Isaiah compared us to grasshoppers. That really makes us insignificant.
Well, we really are. God doesn’t need us. We can’t do anything unless He allows it.
Let me say that again. We are nothing without God.
Oh, we try to be. We work and we study to improve ourselves. We get a job so that we can make an impact.
Doesn’t matter.
All we do is because God allows it. If it is not expanding God’s kingdom, it is worthless.
What are we supposed to do? “Look up and see! …” (Isa. 40: 26 CSB). Take the focus off is and put it on Him.
Why? “… He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing” (Isa. 40: 26 CSB).
If God takes that much care of stars, how much more will He take care of us? It isn’t about the stars.
Kennedy put it into context. He wrote, “Man is not merely one of innumerable living creatures made to people the earth; the earth was made for him. He was the end for which and towards which progressive changes, spread over vast ages, were effected. Glorious as that star may be, and wonderingly as I contemplate its brightness, I am more to God than it is; I am nearer of kin to God than it is; and if God cares for it, much more will He care for me, His own child.”
Resource
When we hook this with those verses in Matthew, it makes sense.
- “Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?” (Mt. 6: 26 CSB)
- “And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread” (Mt. 6: 28 CSB).
We, with all of our faults and failures, are God’s crowning achievement.
Berry told us why we should look up. He wrote, “The circumference widens with the distance. But that is not all. Within the near and narrow circle there is room only for small details and severed parts — mere fractions and fragments, whose drift is not clear. The distant and wide outlook shows great and harmonious aggregates, shows their movement and drift, shows their obedience to the time-beat of a sovereign purpose.”
Resource
Think about it.
• Take the focus off current circumstances.
• Look at the bigger picture.
• Most importantly, focus on the One Who controls the bigger picture.
It isn’t about us and what job we are going to have, when and how we fill find our soulmates, or even when or if we are going to be healed.
It is about God and expanding His kingdom. His focus is our spiritual condition for eternity.
Renewal through Waiting on God
“Jacob, why do you say, and Israel, why do you assert ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my claim is ignored by my God’? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint” (Isa. 40: 27-31 CSB)
Waiting for God’s timing through faith renews us. The process of waiting for Him to work things out helps us grow.
Isaiah outdid himself here. There are two verses that are powerhouses.
- “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding” (Isa. 40: 28 CSB).
- “Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint” (Isa. 40: 30-31 CSB).
We have to remember that Isaiah was writing his book when the Israelites were exiled in Babylon. What encouragement these verses would have been!
No, God still sees us. Even though we are no longer physically in the Promised Land — even though all of these bad things are happening — God is still on His throne loving us.
Everything happens for a reason. God will use whatever happens to expand His kingdom. If something doesn’t happen on our timeline, it is delayed for His reason.
We can take comfort and be renewed by the fact that God doesn’t sleep. He is a spirit. Time is on a different scale for Him.
Have you ever thought about how tenderly God deals with us? Wonnacott wrote, “God’s tenderness is only rightly seen when viewed in conjunction with His greatness.”
Resource
- “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness …’” (II Cor. 12: 9 CSB).
- “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Phil. 4: 13 NLT).
Related Links
Alan Jackson
Even though we might not have understanding, God gives us wisdom.
Wisdom is an internal disposition that leads to knowledge, discernment, and good sense that is put into practice through salvation, increasing our goodness and virtue.
We need to God’s wisdom to understand His power. It would be scary otherwise.
We have to remember God’s providence. Providence is God’s acts of meeting the needs of His creation.
God is going to take care of us because we need taken care of. We think we are self-sustaining, but we aren’t. We need Him.
We have to remember that God is omnipotent. Omnipotent means God is all-powerful.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
God can handle whatever comes up in our lives. He can comfort us and give us peace.
We just have to wait in God to work things out. That means we can’t give up. We have to be strong each day. We have to focus on each day and not borrow trouble from the next.
That is the key — wait. We are not called to do it ourselves. It isn’t for us to figure out.
Our responsibility is to follow. We need to remain devoted while God is working things out.
Making the Connections
“but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint” (Isa. 40: 31 CSB)
All the waiting is going to pay great dividends. It will be a renewal. The churchy word is regeneration. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
We are going to grow to be more like God. That is the whole purpose of sanctification. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration, gradually changes our nature through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
The goal is to change us from the sinful beings we are at conversion to Holy and pure as God is.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Isaiah was preparing the Israelites to return from exile. He knew that they would need a total change to become the obedient nation God had called them to be.
We, too, need changes — if not a complete overhaul. If we have not ABCDed, we need to ask God to be our Sovereign Lord first. Then we need to seek His will for our lives.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
How Do We Apply This?
• We present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice.
• We consistently worship Him.
• We allow God to work things out and don’t take the reins of the situation back.
• We exhibit confidence and earnestness while waiting for Him.
• We change our character, not just perform acts for show.
Resource
Father God. We need renewed. We need to change from our sinful ways to ways that glorify You. We will wait on You to complete the transformation through our seeking You. Amen.
What do you think?
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