Faith perseverance

 This week's verses are Isaiah 35:3-6:

Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake.
Tell those who panic,
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge;
with divine retribution he comes to deliver you.”
Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will burst forth in the wilderness,
streams in the arid rift valley.

These verses remind us that God's justice can sometimes seem far off, even when he is active in the world around us. A massive change was coming to Israel when they were written. The Assyrian army was headed towards them, taking territory and threatening their nation. At the same time, they were surrounded by injustice and cultural decadence. A lot of them were probably wondering if there even was a God, or if he was really as people said he was.

God says to them to strengthen the hands that have gone limp, and to steady the knees that shake.  In other words, stop worrying about world events and the breakdown of society, and trust God to be in control. He will come and set things right. He will provide.

In the end, the invading army was struck down by an angel of God and the threat vanished for a generation. Those who were afraid were afraid for nothing. God's power was proven in the end.

In the verses, God lists all kinds of things he had planned. He promises that people will be healed of all kinds of disabilities, and the land itself will change and become fertile. Crazy unforeseen things were in store for them. We don't know if they happened in that generation or are still in the process of unfolding, but we know God promised them.

 And that brings us back to today. When we see the troubles in the world, do we have faith that things will change for the better? Do we trust God to manage the world, or do we have the weak knees of someone who is terrified to face it alone? Let's listen when God says to be strong and not to fear. He will deliver us with divine retribution. It is not up to us alone to manage the world. He is God.