Isaiah 35:1-4 – Strengthen the Weak Hands
Friends, do not be tempted to think that because in your place and your time, things are not going as happily or as well as you would like to see them, that somehow this is the normal way for the people of God or for their king, the Lord Jesus Christ. And do not think that this is the way it is all over the world, even in our day and time. For by His grace in South America, in Africa, in Asia, the gospel is winning. And where once there was death, there’s now joy and life.
If any of you do not know Jesus Christ, the heaviness and weariness, the barren brownness, the death, the dreariness, well, it may not have impressed you yet, but it will get there. Turn to Jesus Christ, for there you shall find these things, the joy and gladness, the beauty and the blossoming which bring forth fruit. There is life and growth, glory and splendor, and it’s only to be found in Jesus Christ. How does this come to be? It is the outpouring, the shedding forth of God’s Holy Spirit. Jehovah comes and saves. That’s what brings about this transformation.
God exhorts His people to take hold of this vision, to take hold of this picture, to be assured, reassured, encouraged by it, and then to do something practical. Because of their discouragement, they wouldn’t do anything but let their hands hang slackly. But God says, ‘I have promised I will transform things. So strengthen those hands as My Spirit comes to make you strong, get to work, and strengthen those knees. Get to work for my kingdom, get to work for my goals, get to work for my glory.’ The earth shall be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea. God says so through Isaiah. And so there’s much hope for us. And all around us are people who are still in darkness and in death. But God brings life to people like that. We can continue working with confidence. We have no need to be discouraged as a congregation. We have no need to be disheartened and to be sitting around as the church of Jesus Christ. In our land and culture today, God delights to turn death into life. God is glorified by taking dead societies and bringing forth blooms in the desert. We have this promise before us. Let us labour prayerfully. Let us encourage one another. And let us trust in the promise that the desert shall live.
Question
- What promises do we have in these verses?
- What is God calling the church to do?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that God can transform dead hearts and lives.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.