Don't You Know? Haven't You Heard?
“Don’t You Know? Haven’t You Heard?”
--from May 4th --
--from May 4th --
Day 1
Read Isaiah 40:1-8
We pegged this chapter as the halftime speech to the weary. The weary are those that are more than tired physically, they are also feeling the effects of mental exhaustion. Physical and mental exhaustion are fertile ground for the seeds of doubt and despair to choke out hope. So the message that Isaiah sends out is one that reminds us that this does not need to be our reality. In the chaotic, confusing waters of life, comfort can be found. Comfort is found in the idea of hope for the future. This passage is also one that shows up in the Gospels as John the Baptist is declaring the coming of the Messiah, his cousin, Jesus. So the person we run to in weariness that is choking out hope of the future is the person of Jesus.
After talking about the temporary nature of grass, Isaiah declares the established and enduring nature of God’s word. God’s words are where the weary should find themselves. The funny thing is that this is the one place we also tend to avoid as we find ourselves buried under the burdens and struggles in life. Are you like me in that it takes a while to convince myself that what I really need is just God’s word in the storms? That would make sense if it was just once or twice and then I get it through my thick head, but it’s not.
Hey weary one, hear the words of God…be comforted. Your warfare has ended. Your sins have been paid for. So keep going to God’s words to be reminded of this over and over again.
How have you found comfort in God’s word lately?
What does it mean to know that your warfare has ended?
Where is the “glory of the Lord” being revealed in your life right now?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
We pegged this chapter as the halftime speech to the weary. The weary are those that are more than tired physically, they are also feeling the effects of mental exhaustion. Physical and mental exhaustion are fertile ground for the seeds of doubt and despair to choke out hope. So the message that Isaiah sends out is one that reminds us that this does not need to be our reality. In the chaotic, confusing waters of life, comfort can be found. Comfort is found in the idea of hope for the future. This passage is also one that shows up in the Gospels as John the Baptist is declaring the coming of the Messiah, his cousin, Jesus. So the person we run to in weariness that is choking out hope of the future is the person of Jesus.
After talking about the temporary nature of grass, Isaiah declares the established and enduring nature of God’s word. God’s words are where the weary should find themselves. The funny thing is that this is the one place we also tend to avoid as we find ourselves buried under the burdens and struggles in life. Are you like me in that it takes a while to convince myself that what I really need is just God’s word in the storms? That would make sense if it was just once or twice and then I get it through my thick head, but it’s not.
Hey weary one, hear the words of God…be comforted. Your warfare has ended. Your sins have been paid for. So keep going to God’s words to be reminded of this over and over again.
How have you found comfort in God’s word lately?
What does it mean to know that your warfare has ended?
Where is the “glory of the Lord” being revealed in your life right now?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Isaiah 40:9-17
I love the praise song that we do “This Is Our God.” I love the build up in the music that gets to that part where we sing with all of the power we can muster, “This is our God!” I feel like I am declaring it to the world when I am singing it and it sums up the goal of my life, to show the world this God that I can’t get enough of. Why would the world be enticed to this God? Isaiah lays out his characteristics in verses 10 and 11 that are attractive to all people.
The images after this are so incredible to think about. We see God in Genesis 2 walking in the Garden of Eden and that is such a neat picture, but here, He is displayed as so much bigger than that, holding the waters of the earth in just the cupped palm of His hands. We have access, total and complete access, to a God that does not have to be taught or told anything. He did not learn anything or discover anything, because that would make Him less than He is. He gives wisdom but never receives it or runs low of it. He does not need advice or even seek understanding. Lebanon was known for its trees, but there were not even enough there to build an altar big enough, or enough animals in all the world to add to that sacrifice that would capture His attention or change His mind! In other words, you don’t have to worry about God getting distracted or convinced of what He now thinks and what He is now doing. You have His full attention and heart!
Who can you share the truth of your God with today?
What does it mean for God to be a shepherd?
How does this inform your prayers for today?
I love the praise song that we do “This Is Our God.” I love the build up in the music that gets to that part where we sing with all of the power we can muster, “This is our God!” I feel like I am declaring it to the world when I am singing it and it sums up the goal of my life, to show the world this God that I can’t get enough of. Why would the world be enticed to this God? Isaiah lays out his characteristics in verses 10 and 11 that are attractive to all people.
The images after this are so incredible to think about. We see God in Genesis 2 walking in the Garden of Eden and that is such a neat picture, but here, He is displayed as so much bigger than that, holding the waters of the earth in just the cupped palm of His hands. We have access, total and complete access, to a God that does not have to be taught or told anything. He did not learn anything or discover anything, because that would make Him less than He is. He gives wisdom but never receives it or runs low of it. He does not need advice or even seek understanding. Lebanon was known for its trees, but there were not even enough there to build an altar big enough, or enough animals in all the world to add to that sacrifice that would capture His attention or change His mind! In other words, you don’t have to worry about God getting distracted or convinced of what He now thinks and what He is now doing. You have His full attention and heart!
Who can you share the truth of your God with today?
What does it mean for God to be a shepherd?
How does this inform your prayers for today?
Day 3
Read Isaiah 40:18-26
Two times in Isaiah 40 he challenges us with the ideas of knowing and hearing. As we have talked about, those are the double edged swords of answers for the weary, are they not? Knowing what you know…as God’s word of course (remember verse 8) and hearing (because if you don’t know, maybe you should just listen and let it be proclaimed.). God is not slowed down or affected by the chaos, darkness, or emptiness, His seat as Creator is above the circles of the earth! He is not limited by time, space, or anything else that is contained in the creation. We are! But He is not. Now is he overwhelmed by anything that seems too big or too vast. Like the stars that you see filling the night sky and are told in textbooks that there are billions of them across billions of miles! That’s crazy to think about and it makes us wonder, how did they come up with that number if we can’t even count them? Even if they are off on that number of stars by a fraction, it amounts to missing it by millions and millions. But God knows them not by round numbers, but can name each one of them!
These images may seem meaningless, but the point is that this is the God that you believe in, trust in, and sees and knows you! There are not too many people for you to be known or too many issues for yours to matter. He knows them by name and He knows you by name. And because He is so powerful and great, not a single star goes missing, and, to quote an idea Jesus uses in His sermon on the mount, “How much more are you than the stars?”
How do these thoughts of how great God is encourage and help you today?
What other thoughts do these things bring into your mind about God?
Why is it important that God is not compared to anyone or anything?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Two times in Isaiah 40 he challenges us with the ideas of knowing and hearing. As we have talked about, those are the double edged swords of answers for the weary, are they not? Knowing what you know…as God’s word of course (remember verse 8) and hearing (because if you don’t know, maybe you should just listen and let it be proclaimed.). God is not slowed down or affected by the chaos, darkness, or emptiness, His seat as Creator is above the circles of the earth! He is not limited by time, space, or anything else that is contained in the creation. We are! But He is not. Now is he overwhelmed by anything that seems too big or too vast. Like the stars that you see filling the night sky and are told in textbooks that there are billions of them across billions of miles! That’s crazy to think about and it makes us wonder, how did they come up with that number if we can’t even count them? Even if they are off on that number of stars by a fraction, it amounts to missing it by millions and millions. But God knows them not by round numbers, but can name each one of them!
These images may seem meaningless, but the point is that this is the God that you believe in, trust in, and sees and knows you! There are not too many people for you to be known or too many issues for yours to matter. He knows them by name and He knows you by name. And because He is so powerful and great, not a single star goes missing, and, to quote an idea Jesus uses in His sermon on the mount, “How much more are you than the stars?”
How do these thoughts of how great God is encourage and help you today?
What other thoughts do these things bring into your mind about God?
Why is it important that God is not compared to anyone or anything?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Isaiah 40:27-31
Why does God not care about what I am facing? Why does God not want the same good for me? The reply to all that we have been reminded of about God, flies in the face of those two questions that are at the heart of the weariness of the weary. Isaiah gives us the answer that is needed to counter those wayward thoughts…wait for the Lord. What do you mean wait?! I have been waiting and He has not shown up! Yeah…but the word of the Lord endures forever…so wait on Him. Fight the urge. Fight the urge to, in your youthful strength or whatever it is that you are able to muster up from the depths of your soul, run on ahead of God and fix what He seems silent and uninterested in. Just wait for Him. It’s different from being lazy although it sounds the same. It’s not an excuse to get out of anything, you will be able to tell the difference. This is waiting for the sunrise. Why like the sunrise? Because it does happen. Every single day, without fail. The sun does rise. So in the night, just wait for the light to break on the horizon and keep trusting the word of the Lord. Your strength will be renewed again. You will find the stride that you need again waiting in faith on Him. Soon you will be soaring…or running…or even walking, but certainly the end is not weariness and fainting.
All of that makes for a really good read…but what parts do we need to be careful of and how can we take over this message for motivation and not the gospel? (That would be bad..you get that, right?)
So what is it that you walk away from this part of Isaiah 40 with?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Why does God not care about what I am facing? Why does God not want the same good for me? The reply to all that we have been reminded of about God, flies in the face of those two questions that are at the heart of the weariness of the weary. Isaiah gives us the answer that is needed to counter those wayward thoughts…wait for the Lord. What do you mean wait?! I have been waiting and He has not shown up! Yeah…but the word of the Lord endures forever…so wait on Him. Fight the urge. Fight the urge to, in your youthful strength or whatever it is that you are able to muster up from the depths of your soul, run on ahead of God and fix what He seems silent and uninterested in. Just wait for Him. It’s different from being lazy although it sounds the same. It’s not an excuse to get out of anything, you will be able to tell the difference. This is waiting for the sunrise. Why like the sunrise? Because it does happen. Every single day, without fail. The sun does rise. So in the night, just wait for the light to break on the horizon and keep trusting the word of the Lord. Your strength will be renewed again. You will find the stride that you need again waiting in faith on Him. Soon you will be soaring…or running…or even walking, but certainly the end is not weariness and fainting.
All of that makes for a really good read…but what parts do we need to be careful of and how can we take over this message for motivation and not the gospel? (That would be bad..you get that, right?)
So what is it that you walk away from this part of Isaiah 40 with?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Psalm 27
Waiting is the hard part. I would have to assume that most of you reading this are like me and have experienced plenty of things in life that if you don’t react to them, then you get behind the point of no return. Which is why the stress is involved with the idea of waiting and choosing to do nothing hastily or just attacking the problem and getting after it. It is the weighing of the cost versus the reward. I don’t want to use the Lord as an excuse for my immobility, or pass off my fear as a faith. The struggle is the knowledge that the answer is not always wait. That is why the Psalmist here starts with his understanding of God and what He is like. He is appealing to what He already knows about God. The truth is that in those moments of stress and emotions, it is not the best atmosphere to figure out who God is right then. You should have been seeking His face before, because it is now that idea is going to be a big help.
But we were talking about the cost vs. the reward. If I am going to wait for God to show up, then I have to believe that when God shows up, there is good. You know that you can say that now, but faith in my head is different from faith that then translates out to my actions. You have to believe that God is good. Not just know that, but believe that and then act it out. When it comes down to it, that is the real struggle is it not? Wait for the Lord to show up with His good, or trust that I can go on ahead and make my own good. That is why the relationships get out of control. That is why the jobs take over. That is why the money runs out. I ran ahead and thought I had this when it would have been better to wait…because God would bring the good with Him.
How are you running ahead of God right now?
What would it take for you to wait for the Lord in that area of your life?
How do you change this situation and get back to trusting God?
How can this be part of your prayer today?
Waiting is the hard part. I would have to assume that most of you reading this are like me and have experienced plenty of things in life that if you don’t react to them, then you get behind the point of no return. Which is why the stress is involved with the idea of waiting and choosing to do nothing hastily or just attacking the problem and getting after it. It is the weighing of the cost versus the reward. I don’t want to use the Lord as an excuse for my immobility, or pass off my fear as a faith. The struggle is the knowledge that the answer is not always wait. That is why the Psalmist here starts with his understanding of God and what He is like. He is appealing to what He already knows about God. The truth is that in those moments of stress and emotions, it is not the best atmosphere to figure out who God is right then. You should have been seeking His face before, because it is now that idea is going to be a big help.
But we were talking about the cost vs. the reward. If I am going to wait for God to show up, then I have to believe that when God shows up, there is good. You know that you can say that now, but faith in my head is different from faith that then translates out to my actions. You have to believe that God is good. Not just know that, but believe that and then act it out. When it comes down to it, that is the real struggle is it not? Wait for the Lord to show up with His good, or trust that I can go on ahead and make my own good. That is why the relationships get out of control. That is why the jobs take over. That is why the money runs out. I ran ahead and thought I had this when it would have been better to wait…because God would bring the good with Him.
How are you running ahead of God right now?
What would it take for you to wait for the Lord in that area of your life?
How do you change this situation and get back to trusting God?
How can this be part of your prayer today?
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