Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

October 12
Saturday


I'M INVISIBLE

READ:
Isaiah 40:25-31
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[The Lord] gives power
to the weak.
__Isaiah 40:29
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My friend Jane said something at a work meeting and no one responded. So she repeated it and again no one responded; her co-workers just ignored her. She realized that her opinion didn't matter much. She felt disregarded and invisible. You may know what that's like as well.

The people of God felt that way as a nation (Isa. 40). Only they believed it was God Himself who didn't see or understand their daily struggle to survive! The southern kingdom had been carried away captive into Babylon, and the exiled nation complained: "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God" (v.27).

While Isaiah agreed that compared to God "the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales" (v.15), he also wanted the people to know that God gives power to the weak and strength to those who need it (v.29). If they waited on the Lord, Isaiah said, He would renew their strength. They would mount up with wings like eagles; they would run and not be weary (v.31).

When you're feeling invisible or disregarded, remember that God does see you and He cares. wait on Him, and He'll give you renewed strength. __Anne Cetas

``````````````Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,```````````````
``````````````In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.```````````````
```````````Thy mercies how tender! How firm to the end!`````````````
`````````Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. __Grant`````````
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Even when we don't sense God' presence,
HIs loving care is all around us.

*******************Today's Bible Reading __ Isaiah 40:25-31****************

"To whom then will you
liken Me, or to whom shall
I be equal?" says the Holy
One. 26 Lift up your eyes on
high, and see who has
created these things,
who brings out their host by
number; He calls them all
by name, by the greatness
of His might and the
strength of His power; not
one is missing.

27 Why do you say, O
Jacob, and speak, O Israel"
"My way is hidden from
the LORD, and my just
claim is passed over by my
God"? 28 Have you not
known? Have you not
heard? Th everlasting God,
the LORD, the Creator of the
ends of the earth, neither
faints nor is weary. His
understanding is
unsearchable. 29 He gives
power to the weak, and to
those who have not might
He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the
young men shall utterly fall,

31 but those who wait on 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.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In today's prophetic reading, God gives the people of Judah comfort
to face their coming exile. In the ancient world, deities were often
believed to offer help only within the local boundaries of their
recognized place of worship. With the prospect of deportation
to Babylon, even pious Jews may have wondered if yahweh could
sustain them in a faraway land. This is why the text places such
emphasis on God's enormous power over creation. He is the Creator
and Sustainer. The covenant people of God could be confident not
only in His ultimate deliverance but in His sustaining power, no
matter where they were.