IN TIMES OF CRISIS, WHY TRUST GOD? ISAIAH 40:1-31 MARCH 15, 2009 Opening skit between Mrs. Gottrocks and Amy. We see quite a contrast between Mrs. Gottrocks and Amy. Each faces their own tragedy and crisis. Yet, one of them Mrs. Gottrocks is consumed with bitterness, while the other, Amy, lives with the joy of knowing that God works in the midst of suffering. All of us face crisis a sickness, a job loss, a break-up, the list is endless. What do you when those crisis hit? Will we end up like Mrs. Gottrocks, consumed by bitterness and anger? Or will we end up like Amy, hopeful and vibrant in spite of our crisis? As Amy demonstrates, our response will be answered by the depth and strength of our faith. But why believe? Why trust in God in a crisis? We ll explore that this morning. If you have a Bible please open it to Isaiah 40. We ll look at this chapter and answer the question, In times of crisis, why trust God? Our passage opens with God projecting to the future when Judah is in Babylonian captivity. Though it is more than 100 years away, God speaks of the upcoming captivity through Isaiah. At this time, King Hezekiah has probably already died. He was succeeded by his son Manasseh, who was one of the most wicked kings in the history of Judah. Manasseh instituted pagan worship. As a result of Manasseh s rise to power, Isaiah no longer has the king s ear. Isaiah is probably in his 70 s, and rather than having a public ministry in which he warned of God s coming judgment through Assyria, Isaiah has a more private ministry in which he comforts God s followers about the coming Babylonian captivity. In verse 1, God speaks. 1 Comfort, O comfort My people, says your God. This is an expression of compassion as with the death of a family member. In verse 2, God promises forgiveness for their sin which brought about the captivity. God wants to move the people to hope and believe. But let s remember, Judah is captive to the most powerful nation in the world. Why should they take comfort? Let s read verses 3-5. 3 A voice is calling, Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. What will happen to free Judah from Babylon? God will break in to the world. Verse 5 says that God will demonstrate His glory or His greatness. God s greatness will be on display as he delivers Judah from Babylon. The people s response is to get ready for the Lord s in-breaking by making their hearts right before the Lord. While we were in Spanish language school, President Bill Clinton came to visit Costa Rica. The nation spent weeks getting ready for his visit. They cleaned the streets, they lined the parade 1
route, the kids were out of school, the band and hotels were booked all to celebrate Clinton s arrival. How much more should we celebrate God visiting our world. Seven hundred years after Isaiah, in writing their Gospel accounts of Jesus life, Matthew, Mark and Luke quote these verses in describing John the Baptist. He was the forerunner before Jesus telling the people to ready their heart for Jesus arrival. Jesus taking on human flesh and dwelling among us represents God s ultimate work in breaking in to our world and working among us. As we move back to our passage, verses 6-8 remind us that all of humanity is like grass that quickly fades. Even the great Babylonian empire will disappear within seventy years of Judah s captivity. Only God and His Word stand forever. So what is the hope of Judah in her captivity? Let s read verses 9-11. 9 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God! 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, And His recompense before Him. 11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs, And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. God will come for His people as a shepherd comes for His lamb. And when He comes for His people, he will gather His ewes to His bosom. These people are in captivity because of their defiance. They are suffering because they placed their trust someplace else besides God. But they won t suffer forever. God doesn t give up on them. He seeks to comfort His people and then promises to return and gather them to Himself. In times of crisis, why trust God? We can trust God, because He never quits caring for His people. We can trust God, because He never quits caring for His people. The beauty of God s care for us in this section is that he s strong enough to deal with what we face but tender enough not to crush us. In light of Israel s (and our) sin, we might expect a God who destroys us, but that is not what we get. Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of this: John 10 describes him as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Yet, in Revelation 19, at the consummation of the age, Jesus puts down His enemies. We don t just want a God who s strong nor do we just want a God who can feel our pain. We really want and need both, and that s what we get in Jesus Christ. Maybe you are in crisis right now and maybe you are in crisis because you took things into your own hands rather than trusting in God. Rather than wait on God, you got into a bad relationship, you spent money foolishly, or you participated in something you should have avoided and you are living the consequences of your failure to trust God. You need to know God hasn t given up on you. He longs to comfort you and one day, He will break in and you ll see His work in the midst of your hard time. Maybe your crisis has nothing to do with a lack of faith, it is just one of life s tragedies that has come your way. You, too, need to know that God seeks to comfort you and one day He will break in and you will see his work in the midst of your hard circumstances. Whatever your circumstances, trust Christ to comfort you and break into your world so you may see His work in the midst of your circumstances. 2
So we know God cares, but can He handle what we are facing? The people reading Isaiah s letter must wonder, Can God overcome the mighty Babylonian empire? Starting in verse 12, Isaiah will deal with that concern. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance, And the hills in a pair of scales? Isaiah points out that God holds the waters of the world in the hollow of His hand. And He measures the heavens with the span of His hand. And He has scales to measure the mountains. That s a big God. Do you think He can handle Babylon? In verses 13-14, Isaiah points out that God consulted with no one when He created the world. In verse 15, we get God s perspective on the nations. 15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. All the nations together are like a drop in a bucket. So it doesn t look like Babylon will be much of a problem for God. Or as we think about our day, there isn t a country, like the United States or China or whoever, that is too powerful for God. In verse 16, Isaiah declares that Lebanon would not have enough wood and animals to offer an acceptable sacrifice to God. In verse 17, Isaiah reiterates the point: All the nations are as nothing before God. In verses 18-20, we see Isaiah s point. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? 19 As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver. 20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter. Nobody, nothing compares to God. So why would you trust a human-made idol instead of God? Those idols are created. Nobody created God. He is the Creator, perfectly capable of handling Babylon or any circumstance in your life. So why put your trust in something that will fail? In verse 22, Isaiah says the inhabitants of the earth are like grasshoppers before God. In verse 23-24 he points out that God brings rulers and princes to nothing. Finally, in verses 25-26, we have the conclusion to Isaiah s thoughts. 25 To whom then will you liken Me That I should be his equal? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. No army, no nation, no person or no created god compares with the Lord. In verse 26 to make his case, Isaiah invites the reader to look toward the heavens. In the greatness of His power, God 3
created the stars and calls them by name. The one who created the stars can handle Babylon or any problem that comes our way. In times of crisis why trust God? We can trust God, because He can handle any circumstances we face. We can trust God, because He can handle any circumstance we face. Our choice is to trust God or to trust an idol. Now we might not sit down and make an idol, but we still create them. But those idols don t hold up. Maybe we trust in our job, but our job can be outsourced or cut. Maybe we trust our health, but the illusion of health can be shattered with one discovered lump. Maybe we trust our group of friends, but people change or move away. I don t know what looms in your life. Like Judah in captivity, maybe you see those circumstances as having a hold on your life that can t be broken. The One who calls the nations a drop in the bucket and the One who holds the waters of the world in the hollow of His hand is not overwhelmed by your circumstances. He s not worried about what He is going to do. Will you trust His care for you and His power and know that He s comforting you and will break into your circumstances in His time? If you can t trust God, then your circumstances will overwhelm you. But if you will trust that God reigns over circumstances, you can rise above your circumstances. Many of you know God cares for you and you know God can deal with your circumstances, but, when God seems slow in responding, you wonder, Does God really know what is going on with me? Or Is He blind to my plight? Seventy years in captivity probably seems like a long time. Isaiah anticipated impatience with God among his readers. Look at verse 27. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God? The readers think God doesn t see their situation. In response to the concern that God has forgotten them or doesn t see them, Isaiah offers these words: 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. 29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah reminds them that God doesn t grow tired. He s not asleep on the job. He will move in His time. As we wait on Him, He strengthens the weak and weary to continue in their circumstances. Verse 31 reiterates that those who wait on the Lord will be supplied with endless strength. Waiting on the Lord implies two things: a complete dependence on Him and a willingness to let Him decide the timing and terms of our deliverance. Galatians 4:4 reminds us that Christ came at the right time to secure our salvation. If God was that precise in sending His Son to earth, we can be sure of His timing in delivering us from whatever holds us. 4
One challenge as a parent is seeing your child go through immunizations. In most cases, immunizations hurt in the moment, but long term they give us better health. When our oldest son was just a couple months old, I went with him for his shots. When the time came, I had him grab my forefingers and I got real close to him and said, Now this is going to hurt, but daddy is right here. He got about 3 injections, but didn t cry. When the nurse finished she commented, How he trusts in you. Like the immunizations, trials in life hurt in the short term, but if we ll let God do His work, we can trust those trials will give us better spiritual health. And at the moment of injection we know that God draws near to us. My hope and prayer for us is that as we face our crisis, people will look at us and say, Oh, how you trust in God. Back to our opening skit: Amy had joy in the midst of her pain, because of her trust in God. In times of crisis why trust God? We can trust God, because He never quits caring for His people and He can handle any circumstances we face. We can trust God, because He never quits caring for His people and He can handle any circumstance we face. 5