God can be trusted even when we don’t understand His plan.
When your husband unexpectedly loses his job.
When the doctor’s report negatively surprises you.
When the election results aren’t what you hoped.
When your loved one dies.
When your friend walks away from you.
God can still be trusted.
Comfort in Exile
Encouraging a people who will spend decades in exile, Isaiah begins the “comfort” section reminding people how big is God. Loaded with rhetorical questions and statements, Isaiah 40 attempts to get their eyes – and ours – off of our circumstances and pain and onto the Lord:
“Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?” (40:12a).
Two questions filled with imagery. Think about standing at the ocean, sand in your feet, wind blowing against your face. Looking across miles and miles, which is just the beginning of the sea, the scene may remind you of your smallness. We visit the Atlantic Ocean yearly. Across the globe, dozens of other seas and bodies of water exist I have never seen.
Yet the Bible says God holds every ounce of them in his palm.
The span of my hand will not reach from my kitchen to my garage. Yet the Bible says the Lord measures the entire heavens between his fingers.
The Milky Way is about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 km across. My span would not cover one of them!
Getting a Great God
Get the picture? God is great.
Then, Isaiah asks, “Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?” (13).
In other words, because of his greatness, He knows what he is doing. He doesn’t need my advice. He’s got me covered.
No, I nor the problems that concern me are off of his radar. He remembers them without a hiccup. After all, “He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand” (15).
Sometimes, when we experience pain, disappointment, confusion, and heartache, instead of sulking and demanding answers, we may try getting on our faces and meditating on Isaiah 40.
The Lord knows. He is great. He can handle us. He doesn’t have to explain Himself.
And we can trust ourselves – and our circumstances – to Him.
This is great Rhett. These are some of my favorite scriptures! Thanks for the reminder and the encouragement !
Amen. God can always be trusted. His plan is always best.
How timely in my life are these words of encouragment! Thank you, Rhett. I will certainly dwell on the lessons and assurances of Isaiah 40 in the coming days. I do trust God’s Plan to be perfect. May I be more patient and trusting as God continues guiding me through life.