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Scripture Reading - Isaiah 40v12-31
The year 2020 will be long remembered as the year of the virus, the year in which so much of the world stood still for long periods of time. When our children and our children’s children are the age of some of us, they will surely remember 2020 - just like we have vivid recollection of unique world events in our lifetime.
We live in an ever-changing world where so little is certain, a fact which has been starkly demonstrated to us in 2020! Yet history clearly shows that this not a first - nor might it be the last! However, through the whole passage of time, there has been one great certainty. People so often cannot see what it is, just like Israel which had been taken captive by Babylon. Israel was a people who felt that God had deserted them and no longer had the power or the will to deliver them. They felt that God was not listening, but, when the people were in the depths of despair, He spoke through the prophet Isaiah of a new beginning. Due to their difficult circumstances, the people of Israel responded pessimistically, they saw their enemies as too formidable, they saw the obstacles and the problems as being too great and they failed to see God.
Many will look at the problems of the world today, see their extent and the obstacles they produce, but fail to see God! In the midst of all the world’s problems, perhaps even personal problems, and, certainly, Covid-19, people might feel that the weight of all which is happening is too great - but not for God! The message of this passage is one of the greatness of God. The God who made, measured, enclosed and weighed out His created world (verse 12) cannot be measured. No-one can understand or teach Him (verses 13-14). Powerful nations have no consideration or significance compared to Him; their rulers have no authority over Him (verse 23). The stars in a cloudless sky are a wonderful sight which cannot be counted but God knows each one by name (verse 26).
But Israel complained (verse 27) “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”. How did God respond? We read in verse 31 “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength”. We are faced with much false religion in our day, 2020 has created the fear and uncertainty of Coronavirus and, in our troubles, we need to wait upon the Lord. He is the sovereign Lord who made the heavens and the earth; all things are possible with Him. Whatever facet of human weakness faces us today, we need to remember that God is in control. Whether it is about Coronavirus or a host of troubles that shapes this world, the power of God is still evident and, in Jesus, He has given us hope and a certainty “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”. It is the greatness of God and His wonderful salvation which is our only hope for today and forever.
By Wor. Bro. Rev. John Noble, Grand Chaplain