Isaiah 40:27-31
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for 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.
Election Day 2020 has come and gone, and yet the anticipation of who will be elected continues. We are now in the waiting. If you were like me you stayed up way too late waiting to see the results of this “unprecedented election” only to realize that it is going to take more time to find out who will win.
So we wait…
Isaiah 40 is written to Israel while they are in Exile. Not only have they lost the promised land they so loved, but they believe that God has deserted them as they had to enter into the “wilderness.” We thus should not be surprised that it is the fortieth chapter of Isaiah which reflects the 40 years the Hebrews were in the wilderness. While the Hebrews were in the wilderness they at least were guided by the cloud and the fire, but now the Israelites believe that God is not only absent, but that He literally cannot see what they are going through.
So, they wait. We who know the story might remember that Israel did return from a physical exile, but even then, God does not return to a physical residence to be with his people. One can then make the argument that even though Israel returned from a physical exile, they never returned from their spiritual exile.
So they waited…
And waited…
And…
Waiting wears us out. Waiting makes us feel powerless. Waiting pushes even the endurance of those energy-filled youth. Yet, even in exile and even in the waiting – God does not grow faint and He even is willing to give us all the energy we need to get through even exile.
But wait, on the one hand we are in the waiting, but on the other hand, the waiting Israel experienced was ended with indescribable joy where God comes to earth and does what we cannot even to the point of dying for us. His name is Jesus. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Our wait for a president is only dependent on our perspective. Regardless of who is elected, our success and failure, joy and sorrow, and even life and death are all founded in the Lord. Brothers and sisters – the wait is already over.
Romans 5:1-8
5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
