Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Wait of The World

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
   "My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?
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.
He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
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 40:27-31 NASB)
I 'stylistically' broke up the above passage into some sort of poetic structure.  The meter is lost in translation, and the parallelism is obscured somewhat.  I went through and connected the poetic parallels to a degree (there are overlapping elements I didn't 'map').  And I peered into the message the writer was sending to his audience on behalf of his Master.  Strangely enough, I learned some things:
  1. The people of God complain (even today) about Him.
  2. The complaints of God's people are expressions of thin faith or no faith.
  3. The qualities of the God of Israel refute the complaints of His people.
  4. Two of those qualities, endurance and the source of endurance in people, form the focus of this message.
  5. Even those expected to outlast everyone come to the end of themselves at some point.
  6. Those relying of the God of Israel never do.
These are the surface things, clearly stated and supported by the parallelism and comparisons of the passage.  But then I add myself to the passage; I am the complainer, I am the one tiring out and fatiguing.  And I am the one with thin faith.

The question beginning this passage is an excellent one, "Why complain?"  Why would I complain about my Master?  What circumstances could I be in that would refute or even disparage His eternal qualities and promises?  What has He done that is not sufficient for me?

The 'audience' of this passage reside in exile from their homeland.  They are captives and cannot return.  If they did, they would return to rubble and ruin.  They were 'waiting' on their deliverance, and it was slow in coming.

This is not my circumstance.  My life is ridiculously good, hilariously so.  And yet, my problems still obscure my view of my Master's eternal qualities.  How can this be?

My view is obscured because I focus on me.  The litmus test is my perspective, my feelings, my thoughts, my attitudes, and my actions.  When all those things within my boundaries become my 'world' I will complain about my Master.  I complain because all those things are insufficient to accomplish anything but to point out how insufficient I am to deal with this world. 

Hopefully, I wake up quickly, refocus on my Master, and gain that sustaining perspective found only with my Master.  I'm not waiting on my 'deliverance', I'm waiting on my Master.  Paul can say that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him because of his focus on his Master.  That's the only way.  And so it is for me.  Will I be distracted by my circumstances and complain, or will I wait expectantly on my Master and mount up as if I were an eagle?  I'm ready for some 'flight time'!

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