(This message is also available at: http://pastorjimdorton.blogspot.com/)
I am moving on from talking about rest but, please, do not move away from the idea. Resting in God is not something we do once then are done with. We must always go back to Him, always seeking Sabbath, always finding time and place to be still, to know. I have been sharing about my own medical problems, and I hope it hasn’t sounded whiny or self-absorbed, I really feel God is using this time and wants me to speak about it. A right shoulder labrum repair, hernia surgery, followed by this basal cell carcinoma removal. I know a lot of people who are suffering much worse, none of these were very traumatic or life threatening, but I’m tired of it.
I had the stitches out of my neck yesterday. Finally, a step forward. Then came this morning, when I found out I had developed an infection at the incision site.
But God says “be still and know”. Be still and know; know that “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40: 28-31
Can you imagine a more beautiful image or promise of recuperation?
We all get tired, and we all get weak.
People outside the faith have no idea of the toll this world is taking on them, and we need to do all we can to lead them to the source of peace, rest, hope, and strength. But it is an entirely different story when those of us who follow Christ, ignore or refuse or just don’t pay any attention to the fact that we are in such great need and that God is calling out to us with an offer of strength and power.
We are all prone to stumbling.
Life is hard. Really hard. We wade, every day through the morass of this world; on the best days we are surrounded by a world refusing Christ. From atheism to addiction. From Sunday sports schedules for our kids to war around the globe.
On the worst days we find out someone we love has cancer, a friend’s teenager is cutting herself, our children can’t raise their children.
Life is hard. Really hard.
And oh, my, we’re getting older every day. And if “even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall” what about us?
Life is hard. Really hard. But…but…”but those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
No matter how tired, how weak, how depressed, how devastated we are, God’s strength never fails, and He is offering His strength to you.
Be still. Know Him. Then walk…run…soar!
Peace be with you, Pastor Jim
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