Waiting On The Lord Isaiah 40:27-31 (Part 2) 31a Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.... Isaiah 40:31a I want to talk with you today about waiting on the Lord. So often in life, we re in situations in which God seems to have us in a holding pattern. We ve been praying and asking. And the answer is not yes or no. He just wants us to wait. It s not that God is slow to take action or reluctant to help us. It s not that He s completely stumped as to what to do next. When God wants us to wait, He has a reason for it. We can t see it at the time, but He s working out a plan for our good. You ve been battling with an illness for months, and the doctors are still not able to determine the cause. You ve been mistreated by a coworker. And you ve tried everything you can to get along, but nothing s worked. You ve been out looking for a job, but doors keep on closing. You ve been watching your finances dwindle, and there s no sign of a turn around anytime soon. You ve been praying for a rebellious child to have a change of heart and make peace with the family. But he seems to be even more stubborn and distant. Someone might say, Well, all you can do now is wait! But those words seem so empty. It sounds like giving up because there s nothing you can do about it! But listen: you re not just waiting! You re waiting on the Lord, and that s far from giving up. Waiting on the Lord is letting go of a problem (not trying to control it or solve it on your own). It s letting go and leaving it with the Lord - leaving it in His hands. You re surrendering to His control over your life - to do whatever He wants to do, however He chooses and whenever He thinks best. You re saying, Lord, I m not going to worry about this, I m not going to get angry about this. I m not going to try to get my way. I m turning this completely over to You. And you know what happens when you do that? Here s what Paul said in Philippians 4. It s so familiar, some of you may have memorized it... 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 1 What a tradeoff! Your problems for His peace! And His peace 7b... shall guard your hearts and your minds.... Sounds great, but what exactly does that mean? His peace will guard our heart by keeping out anger, fear, worry and discouragement. And His peace will guard our mind by keeping out useless thoughts so we won t make rash and foolish mistakes! Joseph One of the most challenging examples of a man learning to wait is Joseph. 1 Philippians 4:6-7 Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 1
His brothers became so jealous of him, that one day they decided to get rid of him. They sold him to a band of merchants heading for Egypt. When they returned home, they told their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast. Meanwhile in Egypt, Joseph was auctioned off as a slave. Then one day, while serving in his master s house, the man s wife made advances on Joseph which he refused. In anger, she then falsely accused him of assaulting her. For that, he was thrown into prison. No one came to his defense. No one believed him. No one even cared. It doesn t take long to read the story. But get this - from the time he was sold by his brothers until the time of his release from prison, thirteen years of his life had passed. Many would say they were wasted years! But what did Joseph do? While things kept going from bad to worse, Joseph chose to wait on the Lord. He believed that no matter where he was or what he went through or how many years went by, God had His hand on him. God had a plan. God had a purpose. And God was fully in control. How do we know he believed that? Later Joseph said to his brothers, 20a... you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.... 2 You see, there s always two ways to look at any situation - how it seems to us or how it looks to God. And Joseph chose to look at his circumstances from God s perspective! Background to Isaiah 40 The book of Isaiah is a prophecy. At the time, the northern kingdom (Israel) had already been conquered by the Assyrians. Now many years later, the Babylonians have risen to power. They ve taken over the Assyrian empire and were invading the southern kingdom (Judah). Isaiah prophesied that Judah would eventually be defeated and the people taken into captivity. In chapter 40, after years of hardship and suffering, they would complain, 27b... My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God. In other words, God doesn t know, and He doesn t care! He doesn t see that what s happening is not fair! You might think back to a time when you felt that way. You were struggling with circumstances, thinking, This isn t fair! Why doesn t God do something to change it? A trustworthy God Well, that s how the people were feeling. And in verses 27-31, we find Isaiah s answer. We don t know how much time had gone by before the people started to complain. But keep in mind that their captivity lasted for 70 years! Not just days or months... but years - decades for many of them. So what message did Isaiah have to give them hope? He showed them three steps to take. 1. Rethink Your Complaining (40:27). 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? 2 Genesis 50:20a, cp. 45:5 Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 2
a. They were feeling sorry for themselves and saying, God has forgotten about us. He s not listening to our prayers. He s not concerned about our needs. He doesn t care about our suffering. He doesn t understand how we feel. He doesn t know what we re going through. He brought us here and left us to die. This is not right. We don t deserve all this! This was their complaint! b. But Isaiah confronted them, 27a Why do you say.... In other words, Just stop and listen to yourselves! Why are you saying these things about your God? What reason do you have to question or to blame Him? I love how one commentator paraphrased this. He said, Time out! Everybody knock off the whining and saying dumb stuff that isn t even true. I know you may feel like God has forgotten you. I realize circumstances may even lead you to doubt Him - but God has not forgotten you, and you must believe that. c. We need to remember that, don t we? When we get upset or frustrated by things that are happening, we can say, dumb stuff that isn t even true. In fact, when we complain, we re actually finding fault with God - accusing Him that He doesn t know what s going on, that He doesn t care what s happening, that He doesn t understand how it feels! So, Isaiah starts off by saying, Rethink your complaining! Be careful because this is God you re talking about! And that leads to the next step... 2. Recall God s Character (40:28-29). Verse 28a begins, 28a Do you not know? Have you not heard?.... Isaiah is not looking for answers. He s challenging them to think straight! He s saying, You do know, don t you? And you have heard, haven t you? About what? About - who our God really is! You see, when we let our problem get to us, that s all we think about. And we forget about God and forfeit the joy and peace He wants us to experience. Here, listen to this: in Isaiah 26, we read, 3 The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. The solution to a troubled mind is to get our eyes back on the Lord. In fact, this chapter begins with God instructing Isaiah, 1 Comfort, O comfort My people, says your God. 2a Speak kindly to Jerusalem.... And what should he to say? God said, 9b.... Say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God! You might have in your translation, Behold your God! 3 So, back to the challenge, 28a Do you not know? Have you not heard?.... What? a. God is unchangeable. He is 28a.... The Everlasting God.... - meaning that God is eternal! 3 King James Version, New King James Version Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 3
He has no beginning or end; He always has been and will always be. Psalm 90:2 declares, 2 Before the mountains were born, or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. But God is also everlasting in His character - He does not change! 4 You can always count on God to be Who He is. You can always count on God to tell the truth. You can always count on God to keep His Word. Proverb 25:19 warns us, 19 Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot is confidence in a faithless [or unfaithful] man in time of trouble. When you re going through a hard time, what good is someone who s unreliable? On the other hand, when you re going through a hard time, you have a God who is unchangeable! You can always count on Him. You can believe all that He says. You can count on His word. He won t let you down! He might not come through when we expect Him to. We want solutions right now! But at the right time, we will see His faithfulness. There He is - the unchangeable God! God is unchangeable. Secondly... b. God is sovereign. He is 28a... the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth.... God created everything there is from one end of the earth to the other - north and south, east and west. Everything in it! Go back to verse 12, 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? What is God doing here? He s not just measuring the ingredients of the earth. He s creating the earth. He s measuring out each ingredient. He s saying, This is how much water I ll use. This is how wide I ll make the heavens. This is how tall I want each mountain and hill to be. In fact, Colossians 1 tells us that 16b... all things have been created by Him and for Him. 17b... and in Him all things hold together. He is the Creator. He is the Sustainer. In other words, He s the sovereign God who s got it all under control! Look back for a moment to verse 26, 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. Scientists tell us there are more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone! How many billion galaxies there are, only God knows! Counting the stars would be as impossible as counting the grains of sand on all the seashores on earth! Yet, because of God, 26b... not one of them is missing. Every moment, He s keeping them all in place! So if God can manage the universe, don t you think He can manage your life just fine? In fact, God is sovereign over everything that happens on this planet! Look at verses 21-24, 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He it 4 In fact, it s used 117 times in the Old Testament. And in 44 of those references, it describes God s lovingkindness. Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 4
is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24 Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. Do you catch the sense of what he s saying? God put rulers in power, and when they have accomplished His purpose, He removes them. And in your life and mine - the same: God brings people into our life for a reason; He wants to accomplish something that will be for our good. Sometimes, it s just to prove that no matter what the opposition you face, God is able to hold you up! There may be people talking about you behind your back. They may be spreading gossip about you or criticizing what you do. Don t spend your time worrying about it or thinking of ways to fight back. Why not let it go. Turn it over to the Lord and leave it up to Him. After all, He s in control, isn t He? Listen to what David said in Psalm 37, 5 Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it - meaning that He will take care of it. 6 And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday. In other words, what you re going through may not be fair; but one day, God will make it right! That s the kind of God you have on your side! Our God is sovereign! Let Him handle your problems. Let Him fight your battles. God is unchangeable. God is sovereign. Thirdly... c. God is inexhaustible. He 28b... does not become weary [because of a lack of nourishment] or tired [because of a lack of rest].... God is not like us. We get to points in our life when we ve had enough; we can t take another step; we can t handle another complaint; we can t deal with another problem. We ve hit a wall! But God is inexhaustible. He s never overwhelmed by anything! He never needs a break, never wants a vacation. He never has to rest after a hard day! The writer of Psalm 121 testified, 1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip [because He wasn t paying attention]; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The story is told of a father who was awakened in the night by his little boy. Apparently the child was having a nightmare and panicked, crying out for his dad. As the father ran into the dark room, the boy asked, Daddy, are you here? Yes, son, I m right here! He boy then asked, Daddy, is your face looking at me? The father replied, Yes, son! I ve got my eye on you! And that was all he needed to hear, and soon fell asleep. In verse 27a, Isaiah asked, 27a Why do you say... My way is hidden from the Lord....? Why do you say that? We might face situations in life and wonder if God is really looking at us? We ve been waiting for something to happen, but things are not changing and might even be getting worse. We wouldn t say God s fallen asleep, maybe not paying much attention. But 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. He hasn t taken His Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 5
eyes off you! He s carefully, personally, continually watching over you. And He ll keep you safe. God is unchangeable. God is sovereign. God is inexhaustible. Fourth... d. God is wise. The end of verse 28b says, 28b.... His understanding is inscrutable. Or as the KJV reads, 28b... there is no searching of His understanding. What He knows is way beyond our comprehension. We could never know as much as God knows. Look back at verses 13-14, 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him? 14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding? Psalm 147:5b states, 5b... His understanding is infinite. In Romans 11, Paul wrote, 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! What this means is that - God can work things out in ways we would never have thought possible! Do circumstances in your life sometimes seem impossible? You ve thought and thought about it. You ve looked at it from every angle. You ve weighed all the options. You ve laid awake all night, and still see no solution! Can you trust God with it? He knows things you don t know. He sees things you can t. And guess what - He already has the solution to your problem. In fact, He had the solution even before you knew you had a problem! Let me say it again: God can work things out in ways we would never have thought possible! Let me take you back to the story of Joseph - remember the dreams he had when he was a boy? He told his brothers, 7... we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up... and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf. And then he had another dream, and he said to his brothers, 9b... behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars [representing his family] were bowing down to me. 5 God gave Joseph those dreams, not to build up pride in himself. But God was revealing what He would one day do in Joseph s life. How could Joseph have known how God was going to work this out? If he had written the script, it would have been totally different than what God had planned. He would never have imagined himself becoming a ruler in Egypt. He would never have imagined a famine driving his family to him to buy bread. He would never have imagined them bowing at his feet, depending on him to keep them alive. It goes to show, we don t know what God had in store for our future, how He s working in our circumstances, how He s planning to solve our problems, or why He often has us wait on Him. But it should be enough to know that God is wise. He knows what He s doing. Trust Him. God is unchangeable. God is sovereign. God is inexhaustible. God is wise. And fifth... 5 Genesis 37:5-11 Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 6
e. God is compassionate (verse 29). The people complained that God didn t care how they felt, what they were suffering. But Isaiah reminds them in verse 29 that God is a compassionate God - 29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. God knows when our battery is running low. He knows when we don t have the power to take another step. He knows our weaknesses and limitations. He knows that we are dust. But does He care enough to do something about it? The answer is: Yes, He most certainly does! And He not only 29... gives strength... [but] He increases power. What this means is that the weaker we are, the more power He gives. You see, God will always give us enough for any circumstance we face! He shows compassion. In Isaiah 41:10, God said, 10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. He loves to come alongside those who are weak to lift them up! He will give you whatever strength you need! So here s where we are: step 1: rethink your complaining, step 2: recall God s character. And then step 3: rely on God s care. Closing Thoughts Every day, set out to know more about your God. The more you learn, the more your faith will grow. Because everything about God shows that He is trustworthy! He s the only One you can count on in life. People will let you down. Friends will let you down. But God will always be there for you; He will always have your back; He will always keep His word; He will always work for your good. When you choose to trust in Him, you ll never be disappointed. There are circumstances you may be going through right now, and you re saying to yourself, Why does it have to be this way? But further down the road, you ll look back and say, God s way and His timing are always best! Sunday morning, July 8, 2012 - Faith Bible Church. Waiting on the Lord (Part 2) - Page 7