Today on the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Isaiah is saying, "Wait for the Lord. As you wait for the Lord, you'll be renewed in strength. All of God's attributes are infinite in their perfection. As you wait for the Lord, as you behold the Lord, something which you think is impossible is going to happen.
Rather than being faint, rather than being weary, you're going to soar high with wings like eagles." Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe, Senior Pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the Book of Psalms, the writer asks, "Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" Ever feel like you can relate? Today on the Verdict, we're gaining insight from biblical truth as we continue our series with wings like eagles. Here's Pastor John Monroe.
Have you ever thought that God has abandoned you? Perhaps you've even doubted the existence of God. We all experience hardship in life, but perhaps you've been in an excruciatingly difficult, devastating situation. You feel as if you're drowning. You feel utterly alone, and you do believe in God.
What it seems that you are all on your own, and He's not responding to you. Where is God? Does He not care about your situation? You are not unique. Down through the centuries, the people of God have felt this way from time to time.
God's ways are inscrutable.
Sometimes God works in mysterious ways. We learn today that God has not abandoned you. Join me. As we behold the living God in the challenges and struggles of life, what do we do? Here's Isaiah's answer.
Here's my answer. Here's God's answer. Behold, your God. Look at Isaiah 40:9. First of all, go up to a high mountain, O Zion.
Herald of good news, lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem! Herald of good news, lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! In these struggles and trials of life, don't look to yourself, but behold, your God. Look at the incomparable God.
Verse twelve. And marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. He's using metaphors to show how big God is. He's the awesome God, and He's infinite in His size and power. Verse thirteen: Who has measured the spirit of the Lord?
On what man or what man shows Him His counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? I mean, who's God's advisor? Who's going to counsel God?
He's going to say later in the chapter that God's understanding is unsearchable. You can't advise God. You think you know better than God? You think you can take God's advice aside and give him some advice about your life? You think you can really do better than God, the Great Creator, the one who made the heavens and the earth?
And you're in your situation, and it hasn't turned out the way that you think. You think you could advise God? You think you could do better? You think you're wiser than God? He knows everything about everything.
Verse sixteen.
Well, verse fifteen. Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket. Take the United States. Take Russia. Take Iran.
Take North and South America. Take all of Africa. Take all of Asia. Take all of the continents. Put them beside God, just like a drop.
In a bucket, and are and are accounted as the dust on the scales.
Something you hardly notice. Behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. The nations are just like dust. Verse sixteen: Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. What was Lebanon famous for?
The cedars of Lebanon, its magnificent trees. Isaiah says you can take all of the trees of Lebanon, and you can take all of the animals and present burnt offerings to God, and they're simply not enough. They're not sufficient. Verse seventeen: All the nations are as nothing before Him; they're accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness. All of the power of our own country, the military power, the economic power, all of the creativity of all of the nations, measure them against God, and they are simply nothing.
In fact, they're empty, totally worthless. To whom then, verse eighteen, were you likened, God, or what likeness compare with Him? As I loves to say this, he says it over and over again. In other words, God is incomparable. There is no one that comes even close.
Take all of the nations, all of the brilliance of man, put it all together. Take all of the oceans, take the whole universe, and measure it against God, and it's microscopic. In fact, it amounts to absolutely nothing. Verse twenty one. Do you not know?
Do you not hear? I say, are you not getting the point? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? Do you not yet understand how great God is and how small you are?
And why would you go to the idols? Why would you waste your life in efforts which ultimately are meaningless? Verse twenty-two. It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.
Who brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness? The princes, the presidents, the prime ministers, the potentates, the CEOs, the important people, the rulers of the world—take them all. And what are they? Nothing. He makes the rulers of the earth as Emptiness.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely shown.
So in verse twenty-four, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth when he blows on them and they wither, and the tempters carry them off like stubble. People were amazed, weren't they, at the power of Hurricane Dorian? Its size, its power. And as we were watching on television. I said to Goodness, you know, compared with the power and might of God, it is absolutely nothing.
And all of the power of the most powerful nation in the world, in fact, the cumulative power of all of the nations in the world, cannot stop that hurricane. We can predict it; we have an idea where it's going. But then people would say it has got a mind of its own. We're really not sure, and they certainly can't stop it. It's just a hurricane.
Isaiah saying there, he blows on them in the weather; the tempter carries them off like stubble. That's the power of God. Listen. If you think of the power of Dorian, think how powerful God is. I'm asking you: Are you beholding your incomparable God?
Verse twenty-five: To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? Says the Holy One: Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these. He brings out their host by number, calling them all by name by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. Go outside and look at the stars. How did they get there?
God created them. God is more powerful than they are. Obviously, He created them.
Furthermore, He's so wise; He gives names to every single one of them. We don't know how many stars there are. God knows. God made them, and He gives names to every single one. That's strength.
That's power. That's wisdom. That's knowledge. I know you have struggles. I know you have challenges.
I am by no mean means diminishing the pain. And the devastation which may be in your life—I am not diminishing that at all. As a pastor, I have some idea of the pain that people go through. But I'm saying to you: Behold, you're incomparable, awesome, unique, God. Are you holding God?
Are you looking at God? Let's stand and read Isaiah forty, verses twenty-eight through thirty-one. Let's stand and read this together. Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might, he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord, shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Amen. Please be seated.
Behold, your God. As to his duration, Isaiah is saying he is the everlasting God. The Lord is the everlasting God. As to his power, he is the Almighty Creator of the ends of the earth. There are no boundaries or limitations to God's power.
His strength is infinite. Who is like this God? As to this God, he is immutable. He doesn't faint or grow weary. God's power, strength never runs out.
You may be very energetic at the beginning of the day and very, very tired at the end of the day. Those who are playing football today will be very energetic at the beginning of the game, but by the end of it, some of them can hardly walk, and they're having to get that extra oxygen. And they're meant to be men at their peak. I mean, I've never had to have that. Shows how strong they are, or how weak they are.
So as I say, even the strongest of men fall, stumble. That's it. But God is never tired. God is never weary. God never ever faints.
As to His knowledge. He is omniscient. Isaiah says here in verse twenty-eight, his understanding is unsearchable. He knows everything about everything. As to his character, he's gracious.
Verse twenty-nine. Think how gracious God is. He gives power, his power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Behold, your God. And all of God's attributes are infinite in their perfection.
Now, the more you behold your God, the more you know God, the more you love God, the more you look to God, the less your struggles and challenges will overwhelm you. Isaiah is saying, "Wait for the Lord." As you wait for the Lord, you'll be renewed in strength. As you wait for the Lord, as you behold the Lord, something which you think is impossible is going to happen. Rather than being faint, rather than being weary, you're going to soar high with wings like eagles. What a contrast!
At the end of World War II, Allied forces swept through Germany, searching farms and houses for snipers. In the basement of an abandoned house, behind a crumbling wall, a victim of the Holocaust had scratched a Star of David, and beneath it, he had written these words: "I believe in the sun, even when it does not shine. I believe in love, even when it is not shown. I believe in God, even when He does not speak." I'm saying to you today, God is saying to you. God has not abandoned you.
Now I realize, every single one of us has failed God in the past. We've sinned. We've messed up. Israel certainly had. They're in captivity.
But God did not forget His ancient people, and God has not forgotten you.
Some of you have had a very very sad experience of having a parent. A husband, a wife, a child, a friend, a sibling who at one time said they loved you, and you believed them. But now, they no longer love you.
Now, that child, that spouse, that friend, that sibling has, in a sense, abandoned you. Once they said they loved you, now. They don't. This summer, Goody and I were walking along the the beach, and I know you think Goody and I, because we come from Northern Europe, are without romance. We just don't talk about it much.
We prefer action rather than words. But I'll just show you how romantic my wife is. We're walking along the the beach, and she stops and she draws a heart, and then she puts John in the middle of it. And I mean, I was deeply moved; almost brought a tear to my glass eye. I mean, it was a, it was a, it was, it was touching, right?
She still loves me after all these years, and for giving her many reasons not to love me, she still loves me. We walk along. I look back; the waves had come and washed the thing all gone. And can you imagine after Hurricane Dory in that beach? Is it possible for me to go back and to look at that heart with my name on it?
No, it's gone. It's gone forever. Washed out. Listen to, and if you have your Bible, turn to it because this is incredible. Isaiah 49, verse 14.
Listen to this. This is magnificent. Isaiah 49, verse 14. But Zion said. The people of God, the Lord has forsaken me.
My Lord has forgotten me. There it is.
Somebody, you feel that today, right now. Verse eighteen, verse fifteen. Can a woman forget her nursing child? That she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget.
Yes, it is possible. It does happen. That even women who give birth to it, boy or a girl, can turn their back on them and no longer love their own child. That does happen, sad and tragic as it is. But says the Lord, "Yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I've engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. Think of that." Brother, sister, God hasn't forgotten you. He's with you. You are engraved on the palms of His hands.
Think of that. He loves you. You are engraved on the palms of His hand, and God has plans and purposes for your life. I understand you may not understand them. I unders.
Understand that as you look at your life, you just wonder how it's all going to work out. I can't answer that, but I do know we've got a God who loves you, who cares for you, and who is working all things for your good, under His loving and sovereign hand. He has not abandoned you, and there is nothing. Nothing in the whole universe. Remember Paul's magnificent argument at the end of Romans eight.
There's nothing which can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God, not only is with us. We were singing about that. God, not only is with us. He's for us.
He's on our side. This one who walks with me is for me, always seeking the best for me. Plans that are best. Yes, there can be trials. Yes, there can be struggles.
Yes, there can be deep, deep, deep, deep pain. But over it all is a loving and a sovereign God. Today, behold your God. Reaffirm your faith in God. Look to God to help you today.
Keep crying out to God. God has not forgotten you. Suffering does not mean that God has abandoned you. Put your trust in God. Behold, your God.
Our God never, ever, ever abandons His children. He is Isaiah is the one to tell us, Emmanuel, God with us. And the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ declares that God does not abandon His children. You remember when Thomas doubted that the Lord had been raised from the dead? As Jesus comes, what does He do?
He says, "Listen, take a look at my hands. You see that the nail prints? There's the very evidence that I died. I'm here. I'm risen from the dead.
Here's the very evidence in my hands of my love for you." Engraved on the palms of his hand. You're faint, you're weary, you're discouraged with life struggles and pressures. You're to wait for the Lord. This waiting is not like being in the doctor's waiting room. No, this waiting on the Lord is admitting: Will you do this today?
That you cannot by yourself solve your problems. This waiting in God is looking away from your struggles. Looking away from the challenges and looking at God, beholding your God, this is a confident and a patient trust in God that He will act. I'm not sure how you'll act, God. I'm not sure of your timing.
I'm not sure how I'll get through this, but I know that you're with me. I know that you love me, and my hope is in you this day and forevermore. And as I say, as you wait for Him, He'll do the impossible. Many of you here, I'm sure, have experienced it as I have. Although you're faint and weary, not only is your strength renewed, you will mount up with wings like eagles.
You will soar high above the challenges and the struggles of life, and know that God has not abandoned you. What am I saying to you today? I'm saying. Behold your God. I'm saying, listen to your God.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord will you do this? Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.
They shall walk and not be weary. They shall run and not faint. Behold, your God, Father. We do that. And I pray for every single person here.
Some of them have overwhelming circumstances. Right now, we may know nothing about them, but you do. Deal tenderly with them, Father, as you dealt with your ancient people. Thank you that you speak words not of condemnation, but words of hope, words of grace. There are some here, Father, who have never yet come to the cross of Christ.
Open their eyes to see the beauty of the Savior, that they will run to Him and say, "What must I do to be saved?" And that they will call upon His name. Refresh us, Father. Reaffirm us. Renew our strength as we put our trust in You this day and forevermore. In Christ's name, Amen.
You're listening to the Verdict with the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. John will be right back with more on today's message.
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If you are looking for a spiritual home, a place to grow deeper in your walk with Christ, we'd love to see you this Sunday. Get full details on service times and ministry at theverdict.org. And now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? God may have seemed silent in your life; perhaps He seems to have abandoned you, but I assure you that He's not. He loves you with an everlasting love, and He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. He is the one who comes to us, Emmanuel, God with us.
Today, behold your God. Today, listen to God. Wait on the Lord, and your strength will be renewed. You'll mount up with wings like eagles.
Next time in this series, we deal with the burning fuse of anger. Thanks for joining us today on the Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
