Hope in the Lord
Welcome to your latest Bible reflection during New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown. Take a moment to listen (or read) to today’s Bible verse before going deeper with the day’s reflection and prayer. (To subscribe to these weekday reflections, click here).
Friday, April 17, 2020
Isaiah 40:28-31
Listen
Read
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.
Reflect
In difficult times like the current pandemic many of us may face difficult situations regarding our families, our health and our futures, which can naturally cause us anxiety as we seek solutions and ways to move forward.
Today’s Scripture reading in Isaiah 40 reminds us that in the midst of our genuine concerns and worries – we can confidently place our ultimate hope in our God who is the Eternal Creator of ‘the ends of the earth’ (and that includes New Zealand), the one who spoke our world into existence.
He understands our concerns and is always available, to strengthen and energise us when we become weary and burdened with life’s issues.
We can take huge encouragement from these verses to look up to our powerful God and to ‘place our hope in Him’. Other Bible versions use the expression ‘trust in the Lord’ or ‘wait on the Lord’.
The promise is that as we place our trust and hope in the Lord [as we wait upon Him in prayer and faith], that He in turn will indeed renew our [inner] strength and enable us to ‘soar on wings like eagles’.
Pray
Dear Father, we bring before you the concerns and issues on our hearts: our families, friends and neighbours. We acknowledge that you completely understand all these things and that you are well able to help us and strengthen us afresh as we place our trust and hope in you. Thank you, Father, that you are at work behind the scenes and are able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, because of your great power at work within us.
