THEY WHO WAIT FOR THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH (Isa 40:31)
⏰Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent (11 December 2019)
📖Isa 40:25-31; Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10, (R.v.1a); Matt 11:28-30
“THEY WHO WAIT FOR THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH” (Isa 40:31)
It is my birthday, a day I always want to celebrate my mother in a special way and thank God for saving her life some years ago as she was giving birth to me. Kindly join me in praying for her, especially in her present condition, that God may grant her good health of mind and body and increase in her, the joys of motherhood.
Pray for me also that I might receive more strength and zeal from God to carry the Good news of salvation to all who are distressed and in danger of perishing in sin. May I also not lose my own soul in the end. Amen.
Having spent a long time in exile amidst disappointments and pain, and of course, with a possible feeling of abandonment by God, it would need an extra grace for the Israelites to be convinced again that God cares for them. Isaiah tried to do this by pointing to the fact that God’s plan may not be very evident to man at the beginning, yet, it pays to trust and wait on him (see Isa 40:25-31).
Like the Israelites, we have, obviously encountered life situations which keep us wondering with the British bomber pilot, Leonard Cheshire, who once asked, “Where is God in all this?” Yes!
👉Where is God when I spend all my life serving him, yet I waddle in penury?
👉Where is God when the only person that means the world to me was left to die, leaving me all alone?
👉Where is God when my shop that was filled with goods was suddenly raised down by fire?
👉Where is God when all my mates are getting married and I am left single despite the fact that I have kept myself unstained?
👉Where is God when good men suffer while the wicked thrive?
Even in these and similar situations, God keeps telling us, “I know what plans I have for you… plans for peace and not for disaster, plans to give you hope and a future. When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you” (Jer 29:11-12).
Can you now see why we must continually hearken to his invitation to come to him with our problems (cf. Matt 11:28-30) even in situations of seeming hopelessness? The prophet Habakkuk tells us to keep waiting even if we think that he delays in answering us because he would surely work out everything for our good.
May the Lord strengthen you to go through all kinds of martyrdom in your journey of faith and grant you victory in all your affairs. When the troubles of the world are trying to weigh you down, may your hope in him never fail you so that you may cherish, in this life, the experience of serving him, and in the next, eternal life. Amen.
Have a joyful day ahead. Peace be with you.
