RENEWED ENERGY

RENEWED ENERGY

Isaiah 40:27-31 NET.

²⁷ Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel, “The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me, My God is not concerned with my vindication”? ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. ²⁹ He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. ³⁰ Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. ³¹ But those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.

Election day is coming. We see signs of its approach everywhere. Cars have bumper stickers with the candidates’ names on them. Signs pepper our roads and streets. Radio, television, and the internet are all filled with “ads” explaining how excellent one candidate is and how stupid the opposing candidate is. Election season is mostly just a major annoyance to most people. Many of us are convinced that no matter who gets voted in, life will continue as usual, and the politicians will not really make much of a difference.

The nation of Israel during the time of the prophet Isaiah had a similar experience. They were convinced that nothing good was ever going to happen to them as a nation. They knew that as a people, they had a tremendous past, but they had lost hope of ever experiencing anything positive as a nation again.

Isaiah, the prophet, had hammered his nation for its rebellion against God for the better part of 39 chapters. He wanted his people to come back to God in repentance. But even he recognized that all this negativity was not achieving positive results. At this point in his book, Isaiah starts to offer some hope to his people. He hears God tell him to comfort his people and offer hope for a better future. He wants his people to know that God is going to rescue them and restore them.

But Isaiah knows that his good news will not be believed. Israel had been oppressed for so long and had faced failure after failure. They were not likely to take any words of hope seriously.

In today’s text, we hear the nation’s three complaints and the prophet’s three answers. As we look at these words, we are going to find that they are relevant to us today as citizens of a nation and as individuals. We are going to see that the complaints of Israel as a nation, as voiced by Isaiah, are very real to us today because we often find ourselves thinking those same things, even if we don’t dare say them out loud. God knows what we are thinking, and it should be no surprise to us that he has already anticipated our complaints and given his response to them in his holy word.

The first complaint is “God does not know” (27-28, 30).

Israel says to the prophet that the Lord is not even aware of what is going on in their nation. He used to be present among them and spoke to them through great leaders like Moses and Joshua and great kings like David and Solomon, but he is on vacation now. They are not so bold as to dare say that God does not exist. Instead, they assert that God does not matter.

This is fundamentally a theological argument. It is an attack on the omniscience of God. It asserts that God is not who we have been told he is. Instead of being immediately involved in the lives of his people, God drops in every millennium or so to check on them. Otherwise, he is absent and cannot be reached. He could know, but he doesn’t know. He is busy with other nations and other worlds so Israel is on their own.

In answer to this theological argument, Isaiah tells his nation that “there is no limit to (God’s) wisdom” (28). He knows alright. He knows everything. He is not limited by distance. Even if he were actively involved in dealing with other nations, he is still 100% present among his people Israel.

Israel’s second complaint is that “God does not care” (27, 29).

Israel might concede theoretically that God knows everything, but they still insist that it does not matter because God does not care enough to intervene in their problems. The philosophical view of deism says that God created this world, then wound it up like a clock, and is now leaving it to run by itself without his supervision. The Israelites had come to believe in a God like that. He is all-wise and all-powerful, but it makes no difference because he does not rescue.

How can the prophet respond to an accusation like that? Isaiah responds by telling his nation that God is not like that. People get tired, but God does not. When we get tired and feel spent, “he gives renewed energy” (29). The people are not praying because they feel that it is no use: God is not listening. Isaiah says, “Pray, because God is there and he wants to restore your energy and give you new life.”

Jesus gave a similar invitation to the weak and weary of his day. He said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30). We were not intended to carry the burdens of life alone. We were designed to get renewed energy by coming to the Lord and taking his yoke on us.

Maybe I need to explain what Jesus said because we are no longer living in a society where everyone uses animals to do their work. A yoke is a harness that you can mount over the necks of your horses and oxen. When an animal takes a yoke, it enables the animal to share the burden of the load with another animal. It, therefore, makes it easier for that animal to bear the burden. If a weak animal joined with a stronger animal, the result was that the weak animal was capable of doing anything that the strong animal could do.

When Jesus invited the weary and burdened to take his yoke on them, he was telling them that he was willing to work with them to accomplish what they needed to do. They did not need to face life alone. God is not only there, but he cares.

Israel’s third complaint to Isaiah is “God does not help” (31)

They said, “Isaiah, we admit that we have fallen, but God does not seem to be around to help us get back up.” Isaiah answered that objection too. He said, “Those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.”

The phrase in Hebrew appears to mean “they will sprout wings like eagles.” Isaiah is telling them, “I know you have fallen, and you cannot help yourselves. But if you dare to trust God and wait for his rescue, he will do a miracle in your life. It will be as if you sprouted wings and flew away from your troubles.

Isaiah is not guaranteeing anything, but he is telling his people that God has not given up on helping them. He is there; he knows what they are facing, and he is able to help them. They need to start trusting him and waiting for him to act.

The same is true for our nation as well. Any nation that is willing to humble themselves and trust him can be rescued.

The same is true for every individual. If you dare to believe that God is who he says he is, that he knows what you are facing and cares about you, then you can put your trust in him, stand back, and wait for the eagles’ wings to sprout. If you choose to handle things for yourself, you may be able to run for a while, but eventually, your limitations are going to catch up with you. You will grow weary. You may be able to walk for a while, but sooner or later, you are going to get tired. Your heavenly Father is there. He knows what you are facing. He cares about you. He is standing by ready to help.