Thursday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday

Scripture: Isaiah 40:27-31 (NKJV)

27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God “?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Devotion

We might imagine that at times God is quite distant from us. One such time is in the moment of temptation, when the desires of our sinful flesh seem like they will overpower us. Another such time is in days of distress when nothing seems to go as planned and we are tempted to despair of God’s mercy. At (at least) one point, Israel said, “My way is hidden from the Lord and my just claim is passed over by my God.” Old Testament Israel felt that God was distant, aloof, and disengaged from their plight. Perhaps this led some to imagine the Lord did not care for them at all. Israel’s complaint is often our complaint. Our ways seem hidden from the Lord. Our claims are passed over.

The Lord speaks to Israel’s complaint, and ours. He does not grow weary as youths do. He does not grow faint. His strength is not diminished by His activity as man’s strength is diminished by his. The Lord is not as a youngster who eventually does wear out. He is everlasting, and with Him is no change or variation, even the change of growing tired or sleepy. His immutable strength is the source of our strength in the hour of temptation, the day of despair, and moment of spiritual weariness. He gives of His everlasting strength to those who wait on the Lord. What does it mean to wait on the Lord? The Christian waits on the Lord by trusting His promise to answer our prayer. We wait upon the Lord confidently confessing that our times are in His hands and that He will strengthen us according to His good pleasure.

We pray: Dear Lord, strengthen our faith in Your promises, so that we may place our confidence in Thee. Amen.