Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.” (Isa 35:3-4 AV)

This instruction was just prior to Assyria coming to Judah and threatening their liberty.  Assyria, which is modern day Iran, had taken Israel’s neighbors as well as the ten northern tribes of Israel.  Now, they have defeated all the defenced cites of Judah and lay at the gates of Jerusalem.  They are demanding surrender and using their successes, specially over the northern kingdom, as incitement to fear.  Above, the prophet is encouraging the faithful of Judah to strengthen one another by the promises of the word of God.

There are times when our faith is weak.  There are other times when our faith is strong.  It is in these times that we need to encourage or be encouraged.  What is important to observe is the nature of the statements above.  There is no ‘hope for’.  There is no ‘maybe’.  There is no ‘perhaps if the LORD is gracious’.  There is no ‘if it all works out’.  And there is no ‘the LORD will’.  The statement above is an emphatic one.  Verse four is a declaration of what will be!  Of that there is no doubt.  Our challenge is knowing exactly how the LORD will work out details.  But the end is known from the beginning.  No matter what life brings to us, we know certain things to be true.  We know that God will transform us from a wretched sinner more and more to the likeness of His Son.  We know He will grow us in faith.  And we definitely know once this life is over, we will be in eternity with all our troubles and trials never to be remembered.  We know certain things to be certain.  With these absolutes, we can encourage one another.

As I get older, I have learned to take the details of life in stride.  A bit ago, my wife was given a preliminary diagnosis of a deadly condition.  The emotions and thoughts that coursed through my being were both really good, but also quite troublesome.  We began to prepare for what might have been the beginning of her journey to the glory of Christ’s kingdom.  I had to meditate on the possibility of being alone.  Each thought or fear was met with the comfort of the Holy Spirit.  He answered each fear that entered my heart.  Her final diagnosis is nothing to be concerned about and merely has to be watched year by year.  That experience, of which I am truly grateful, caused me to ponder greater promises than the ones concerning this life.  That experience taught me that God is greater than anything that He would ever ask me to go through and even when life brings the most challenging of all circumstances, God is still there and He will guide me through it.  Guaranteed.