In 1 Samuel 30 we find David and his men arriving in Ziklag to discover that the Amalekites had invaded, burned the city, and taken all their wives, sons, and daughters captive. It says that “David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”
Have you ever been so low, in such despair, so grieved, in such emotional pain, that you wept until you had no strength to weep any more? Sadly, I suspect that most of you have, for one reason or another. It is probably fair to say that most people have suffered such sorrow and pain that they have felt helpless, even if they knew the Lord.
Yet, two more verses down we see what David did. Verse 6b says, “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” Reading further, in verse eight, we see that David sought the Lord as to whether he should pursue the Amalekites and try and get their families back. The Lord answered, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.” When David did so, the Lord enabled, strengthened, and provided, and restored right where they were.
Let’s now turn our focus to Luke 5. Here we see Jesus standing by the lake of Gennesaret. Jesus enters into a ship with Simon and tells him to “launch into the deep and let down your nets.” Simon did so (against his better judgment) and pulled up a large number of fish. They beckoned to Simon’s fishing partners, James and John, (just a little ways away in their own ship), to come and see what had happened. The passage said they were astonished for all of them had fished all night and caught nothing! Once again, Jesus made provision, right where they were! Then we read in verse 11, “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” When I read this (and I’ve read it many times before) the Lord opened my eyes and I saw how he prospered them, strengthened their faith, and provided for them, right where they were, out of their own unsuccessful attempts. Of course they forsook everything and followed him! They would have been fools not to. Yet, how many years has he done the same for me and I “followed” him, without forsaking everything? I laid my head on my desk and wept.
Lastly, turn to Isaiah 40. Beginning in verse 28 we see clearly that God never faints. He never grows weary. The word never means exactly what you think it does. Never. So according to Romans 3:23 which says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, God doesn’t get sick of me when I fall short? He doesn’t grow weary, shake his head, and say to himself, “what am I going to do with that girl?!” No. Never. He doesn’t faint. That’s who God is.
Now, back to our circumstances. We sometimes find ourselves in a place that is painful, dark, sorrowful, difficult, and just plain miserable. But, we can know that He is there, right where we are. He was there for David. He was there for the fishermen. And he is there for you and me. He doesn’t deliver us out of our circumstances, he provides a way through them!
Now, back in Isaiah 40, in verses 29-31, we see that he gives power to the faint, and to them who have no strength left he increases their strength. It say that even young people grow weary and faint, but they that wait upon the Lord…..
to them he promises four things:
He will renew our strength
He will cause us to mount up with wings as eagles
He will help us to run without growing weary
He will enable us to walk without fainting
Finally brethren, in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 Paul tells Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Wait, I say, on the Lord.
(To be continued…)