Isaiah 46:3-4

God has been taking me through the book of Isaiah recently and it certainly has been a great time to sit in the Old Testament and absorb God's Word to Israel. The whole book of Isaiah is very cyclical and constantly features the themes of God's complete righteousness, Israel's disregard of God, Israel's punishment for that sin, and their eventual salvation (from captivity and the eventual salvation through Christ) via the work of God. God has encouraged me from this book of His Word in so many ways. He has reminded me of my own sin and disobedience and yet, He has shown me His steady hand throughout my life and that His grace has spanned the entire course of my life. In my being created without arms, in my salvation, in the union with my perfect helpmate and wife Heather, in the cancer diagnosis of my own father, and everywhere in between is God with His perfect grace and justice.

God led me to two verses in Isaiah that began this whole journey through the life of this prophet and those verses are what I want to look at closely:

3 "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been borne by Me from birth
And have been carried from the womb; 4 Even to your old age I will be the same,
And even to your graying years I will bear you!
I have done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you.
Isaiah 46:3-4 (NASB)

One of the things I love about the entire book of Isaiah is how deeply personal it is. God is speaking directly to His people; displaying a deeply intimate knowledge of who they are. Even here in Isaiah 46:3-4 God is speaking directly to His people. In these two verses He uses the pronoun “I” or “Me” seven times, which is a specific reference to Himself. Then the pronoun “you” or “your” is used seven times, which refer to His people. These verses are a specially crafted Word from God to His people of Israel. Yet, though directed at Israel, a Gentile like myself on this side of the cross can read these specific promises and see the character of the Father in whom our faith is placed.

This character of God is one that is unrelenting and constant. He is unchanging and ever present and He wants us to be assured of that. He has borne us and brought us from the womb and He will carry us as our old, graying bodies begin to fail us. All the while He remains in a supernatural steadfastness. In Malachi God says in 3:6 that, “"For I , the LORD, do not change”. His character and His promises do not crumble and do not alter. So much in my life in the past 10 months have changed completely, but my Abba Father remains my Abba Father. He remains, vigilant at my side and that is the amazing part of this verse. He is active in my life.

Every verb in these verses are done on His account and enacted by His strength. These are not passive, mundane things that He is doing. They are life altering actions like being “borne”, “carried”, “delivered”. My strength fails because of my body, or my circumstances, or my lack of faith and yet He remains to bear me in my brokenness and my failings. His permanent sustaining grace is so evident that Isaiah is surprised when people do not recognize it.

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable. 29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:28-31 (NASB)

His Grace is there. His Hope is there. His Strength is there. I might not see it or feel it, but it is enveloping me and carrying me along in my life. My circumstances might be crushing in on me and pushing me into some desolate place. Yet, I am called to wait for Him even after I am weary and tired and have bloody knees because of my constant stumbling. Yet, I just have to wait...to rest in His arms and a promise deferred waits...

My Hope and my Salvation