Strength in weakness
| So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah41:10) |
"I am with you"
Even when it does not feel that way and even when we feel like we have failed.
Even when we have wondered away and fallen down.
Paul says: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:38f)
"Do not be dismayed for I am your God."
Have you ever experienced an eclipse? Sometimes our circumstances are so "in our faces" and so intimidating that they get between us and God like the moon gets between the earth and the sun. But He is always God. We should never allow our circumstances become a god. His light will always shine, and even when we feel like we're in the shadow, the Light is always there! Put another way: There can only be a shadow if there is a light behind it! God is always greater than our trouble.
"I will strengthen you and help you"
Elsewhere Isaiah says: "Those that hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." (Isa40:31) Paul reminds us that the power of the Holy Spirit who is at work in us is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
"I will uphold you with my righteous right hand"
God's hand reminds us that His care is personal and intimate. He is with us and involved in our circumstances. And some 2000 years ago the One who sits at the right hand of God - His only Son - suffered and died to give us life.
