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A fast scroll through the news or your Facebook feed can be overwhelming. This morning I am bombarded by news of bickering presidential candidates, government overreach, religious terrorism, friends dealing with disease and destructive wildfires. These are typical of what my world is facing on a day-to-day basis.
As Christians, we have the opportunity to bring all of our concerns to God in prayer, but where do we begin? It seams as though the list of things to pray about is way larger than our ability to pray about them. Perhaps this is why Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. But even when I pray, there are times when I wonder if things will ever be right.
But then, seemingly when I need it most, there are times when I read Scripture I find a nugget of encouragement that helps me see past the difficulties around me. I found one such this morning while reading through Isaiah.
“He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” (Isaiah 42:4, ESV)
This verse is at the end of the first of the Servant Songs, which are parts of Isaiah’s prophecy where he writes about the Servant of Jehovah who Christians identify as Jesus of Nazareth.
This verse in Isaiah encourages me that at some point justice will be established. At some point, all the issues that I highlighted in my opening paragraph will be resolved. We will no longer experience terrorism, disease, or government corruption. We have a hope that rises higher than any flood of bad news that comes our way.
There will be an ultimate resolution, but we can also find hints of that resolution now.
We can actually see him working in the lives of some of those around us. Not only that, we see God working in ourselves. While we may feel that we take a step backward for every two steps forward, there is progress none-the-less.
I also like Isaiah’s reminder that Jesus will not grow faint or be discouraged about the mess we see around us. While we don’t understand why God allows any particular thing to happen, we can be assured that it is not because he has lost control or lost interest.
Because Jesus will not grow faint or be discouraged, we can find hope. That hope can then allow us to not grow faint or be discouraged. I am reminded of a verse from the old hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”:
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.