The Everlasting God

Have you ever felt tired? Have you ever been exhausted? Many of us wear multiple hats or have more than one title. I am a wife, a mother of three boys (the sons of thunder as I like to call them) and I also have a full-time job as well as work in ministry. For many of us, life is balancing several aspects of our lives. This week, my boys came back from their week off and are doing distance learning while I work from home. My stress level was higher this week and by Friday I was exhausted- physically and mentally. All I wanted to do was curl up and read a good book or watch a Korean drama. In all honesty, I wanted to mentally escape. While I felt trapped in my own home physically, mentally I wanted to fly somewhere else. The reality? While escaping mentally can help me relax and calm down, it doesn’t restore me or refresh me deep inside where I really need it.

I took a moment and jumped into the Word of God. I don’t want you to think that all I do is sit and read my Bible and nothing else, that would not be true. I am the type of person who constantly tries to find a hobby (as if I have time for one). I tried baking sugar cookies and decorating them (I even bought a box of 100 cookie cutters), that was a lot harder than I thought. I tried lettering and drawing and that worked a little better, but again, difficult to do with three boys around who want to take your art supplies. In the end, I settled for reading. Reading allows me a mental escape. It helps me to relax. However, reading the Word of God does something different- it refreshes my soul. The Word of God isn’t a mental escape, it’s a place to find refreshment and a place where the Holy Spirit does His work in my life. He renews my thinking and reveals the areas of my life that need change. This is where I can truly find renewal, hope, transformation and refreshment.

Last night, the passage that I brought me renewal was Isaiah 40. This passage is comfort and encouragement for the nation of Israel. It is a passage of hope and a reminder of who God is. First, it brings into perspective who we are in comparison to God. We are tiny and insignificant-

‘“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8, NIV).

        If we are like grass and our faithfulness like flowers, we eventually wither and fall. However, the word of God endures forever. While we are temporary and people change, God’s Word remains faithful and true. The passage continues to describe the greatness of God as creator. He is powerful and sovereign. In fact, the nations are like sand to Him: “Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust” (Isaiah 40:15, NIV). While we rely on our government and leaders, the reality is that God is sovereign and greater than all the nations, to Him, they are “like a drop in a bucket.” The passage continues and gets better. Who can compare to God? Is there another like Him? What are idols to Him? Money, power, career, titles- none of these things can compare to God. While you may not have a little wooden idol in your home that you worship, you may be placing your hope in someone other than the Lord. With what is going on today, your hope may be placed in your job or in money or in the government. The reality, who can compare to our God? No one!

            This is the portion of the passage that brings me hope, that reminds me that my hope and my trust has been placed in the right place:

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
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” (Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV).

Come on now, “do you not know? Have you not heard?” I love this! The LORD- Yahweh, God’s covenant keeping name- He is the everlasting God. He is the creator of everything, all powerful and “He will not grow tired or weary.” Unlike our misplaced hope in men, leaders or things, God is all powerful and He created everything. He is the everlasting God, the beginning and the end. Unlike you and me, God does NOT grow tired or weary. We become exhausted, weak but God remains strong. Not only does he not grow tired or weary, but he gives strength to those who are weary and gives power to the weak! This is what differentiates the Word of God to anything else that we can read or listen too. While hobbies and activities and books can relax you and help you to escape mentally, they cannot give you strength or power when you are tired or weak. Now, don’t get cheeky with me and say, well, I go to the gym to get stronger. While you can increase your physical strength, this is not going to help you spiritually. You can focus on your physical strength, but the Apostle Paul pointed out that what really matters is your spiritual endurance- “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8, NIV).

The passage continues and reminds us that even young people grow tired. I have three young boys and their energy is endless and even they grow tired physically. You usually don’t associate the image of young strong men with exhaustion, however, once again, even the strongest and most energetic person will eventually grow tired and weary. You can be doing your best to get through the week and that was me this week. I worked hard to get things done and was feeling exhausted by the end, but this passage reminded me that my strength comes from the Lord. While I may grow tired and weary, while I may have moments of exhaustion, my hope is in the Lord; “…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” The Lord renews my strength, He recharges my spiritual battery. He helps me to soar even when feeling overwhelmed. No matter what you are going through right now, if you have reached the point of exhaustion and you have realized that you have run out of movies to watch on Netflix and nothing else is helping you to re-charge- put your hope in the Lord. Take a moment to drink from the living water by reading the Word of the Lord. No matter what is going on today, no matter what statistics or percentages the media throws at you today, He is and continues to be the everlasting God. He does not grow tired and He is still sovereign. He continues to give strength and power; all you need to do is go to Him. He will renew you and refresh you. He did it to me and He will do it for you.