(VIDEO) When the Israelites were facing a time of exile and captivity in Babylon the prophet Isaiah comforted them by reminding them of the nature of their God (Isaiah 40). Just like us, the people were overwhelmed with what was happening in their world. Just like us, they were looking for God’s divine intervention and the fulfillment of His promises. I hope you’ll take time to read the entire passage but here are just a few verses:
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure or weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on the scales?
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who has given him counsel?
The nations are like a drop in the bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
All the nations are as nothing before him; they are considered by him as empty nothingness.” (Isa 40:12-13,15,17)
Like a roaring lion coming through our screens, the enemy would fill our minds with an unending barrage of fearful reports, keeping us preoccupied with trying to figure out what is going to happen next in his dark worldly kingdom.
But those who are in Christ we are not of this world and scripture tells us to keep the heavenly kingdom as our focus.
In the book of Job, we read how he had lost all that he had in this world including his home, his 7 beloved sons and 3 precious daughters and his very health, his body covered in sores. Well-meaning friends tried to figure out why those things had happened to Job and instructed him in courses of action. As the misery drug out over several months, Job defended himself against their bad counsel.
“How many iniquities and sins have I committed? Reveal to me my transgression and sin.” (Job 13:23)
Like us, Job wavered in his faith that God was with him.
“Why dost thou hide thy face, and count me as thy enemy?” (Job 13:23–24)
Job did confess that after death God would redeem Him, but, not unlike most of us, he complained;
“Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments . . . Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?” (23:3–4; 24:1).
Toward the end of Elihu’s speech a thunderstorm had gathered, and out of the whirlwind came the voice of God speaking to Job in loving rebuke. (chapters 38–41)
Here’s a beautiful reading of that passage.
The truth of the magnitude of holiness of his creator produced humility and repentance in Job, as it did in Paul when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
This is the true hope that will see us through the coming dark days.
We need to stop spending so much time trying to figure everything out and start each day remembering who it is that we serve.
