Isaiah 40

You know, there are some days on this blog when it seems like I’m grasping at straws to find something, anything in the chapter to write about. I particularly remember feeling that way during the ten genealogy chapters of 1 Chronicles! Today, I had the opposite problem. I think I could have written 15 different blogs from things in Isaiah 40. How come he had to cram all the great stuff in the same chapter?

Alas, I will try to incorporate several different points by placing them all under the umbrella idea that only God offers us a truly abundant life. That’s the kind of life He wants us to have, and so this chapter begins with a promise that no matter what we have suffered, God is going to more than make it up to us: ”Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (vs 1-2)

That’s right. God not only returns good for evil, He returns a double portion of good for evil. No matter where our suffering has come from—someone else’s sins or our own sins—God promises to more than make it up to us if we will let Him. He holds no grudge against us for any of the wrong things we’ve done. All He wants to do is be good to us.

The second promise about the abundant life we find in this chapter is that God’s plan is to make life easy for us: “A voice of one calling: ’In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” (vs 3-4)

Sometimes, we give the impression that living life God’s way must be hard in order for it to be right. Actually, it’s the opposite. When we follow God’s plan for our lives, we discover that He makes the way easier, not harder. He levels out the mountains. He fills in the valleys. It’s His intention for us to travel on our way as smoothly as possible.

When I was out to lunch the other day with my husband and our daughters, for some reason, I began to think about family relationships in this world. So many children now come from broken homes and blended families. So many children are born to mothers out of wedlock. All of that has to add such stress to life! I was sitting at the table trying to imagine what life would be like if David had other children with an ex-wife or a child from a previous girlfriend. I’m sure there would be a lot more mountains and a lot more valleys! God would like to save us from that kind of stress.

But, God cannot always save us from stress or suffering in the here and now. As He is working out His big plan for us and the rest of the universe, there are many times when He must simply say, “Wait and be patient. I’m working on it!”

For all those times, there comes the essential component of God’s abundant life—supernatural strength to live today, right where we are: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (vs 29-31)

God offers us an abundant life—no matter who we are, no matter where we’ve been, no matter what we’ve done. He wants to make life as easy as possible for us. In His time, He will make up for any hardships we’ve suffered. And through it all, He will lift us up on His wings, refreshing us and renewing us with His presence.