Questions of God: Why do you say "My way is hidden from the Lord?"

Is. 40:27          Why do you say, O Jacob,
         And speak, O Israel:
         “My way is hidden from the LORD,
         And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
Is. 40:28          Have you not known?
         Have you not heard?
         The everlasting God, the LORD,
         The Creator of the ends of the earth,
         Neither faints nor is weary.
         His understanding is unsearchable.
Is. 40:29          He gives power to the weak,
         And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Is. 40:30          Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
         And the young men shall utterly fall,
Is. 40:31          But those who wait on 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.

   It seems that a lot of folks I know are really going through a kind of trial right now: trials of divorce, depression, burnout, physical illness, financial stress, and many more. They are real. They are hard. No getting around it. To glibly quote M. Scott Peck, "Life is difficult."

   So what do you say to someone who is having a rough time in life? You see, it is entirely appropriate to say "just cheer up, man. It'll be alright" to someone who didn't get a raise or who had a falling out with his boss. But what about the big stuff? You know what I mean. How do you respond to "my husband just left me and the kids" or, "the Doc says I have cancer?"

   These days we Americans tend to be an extroverted bunch. We don't want to see people sad faced and down. We feel uncomfortable in the face of real pain expressed in public, right in front of us. We want to reach in and make it all better. Those who are spiritual among us like to quote scriptures about counting it all joy when life crushes you like a bug. We're just really unable to just let people be in their pain and be there for them.

   I learned about this when my mom died back when I was in college. She had been ill with pulmonary problems for three years when she finally passed away, on her birthday, amazingly. She was in and out of the hospital for what seemed like forever. I began to dread when someone would say, "Hey Cliff, the phone's for you. It's about your mom." After she died I had this huge emotional wave hit me. All of the times of just being there and being strong for others had taken their toll on me. What happened was a huge release of grief and everything that goes with it. I was worn out personally, spiritually, and emotionally. The grief was so intense for me that it was like a physical pain in my whole body. I cried out to God in a similar way to our question, and God graciously sent friends, and even total strangers, to strengthen and encourage me. If it had not been for those people that were sent my way to listen and just hang out with me, I wouldn't have made it through.

   So one day I was going through a Sound Warehouse (Remember those stores? Places where you went to listen to and buy new music?) and I saw a couple of friends from school. They were fellow musicians and friends. They asked me how I was doing. I remember the moment and it seemed really like an eternity. I had a choice to be real or to just say "OK, fine." I went ahead and said that I was not doing well, and that I was in grief over my mom's passing. They sat and listened for a moment and even thanked me for taking time with them. Now, that wasn't the real point of this for me. The real thing for me was that I admitted what I was going through instead of carrying the thing on my own shoulders. I decided to be real, even if that meant being sad for awhile.

   Now I guess that this was not the best example, but the point is that people who are not extroverted are tortured into feeling shame over it. We are a nation of people who are shallow and not able to show empathy toward anyone beyond the most basic, surface level, unlike my friends in the story. Which explains our lack of creativity as a nation these days. We need introverts. We need their integrity and strength. We need people who can handle a space of silence longer that ten seconds. We need people who ponder the deeper things of life and try to live a life of internal consistency of soul. So I thank God for those of us who are gifted to be introverts. (Thanks for listening. I really needed to get that off my chest.)

   Which gets me, finally, to the next question of God. It goes like this: "Why do you say 'my way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God?'" Here is God saying in effect, "Are you so unaware of My love for you and My plans of good for you that you would sit there right in the middle of all that blessing and not realize how much I have done and provided for you?" He retorts, "Have you not known? Have you not heard?" The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable."

   His appeal starts with the question "Have you not known?" This is a knowledge that comes from close fellowship and intimacy, the way close friends or even lovers know one another. This is a knowledge that is mutual, deep familiarity with one another. In one of my favorite movies, Dogma, the main character laments to a friend, that she wished she could just have the faith she had when she was a child, because she just believed. I think many of us have had a similar thought. But in the movie her friend replies that as life goes on your cup of faith gets bigger, and your faith must grow with it, or you end up with an empty cup. Just as children, in the atmosphere of parental love and security, have somewhat of a leg up on faith in the beginning, most of us have the same problem with faith and belief as we mature.

   This also has the familiar ring of one of the questions Jesus asks his friends after they have been with him for about three years. Jesus is talking about his Father and one of the guys pipes up "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?"(John 14:8-9) It's actually kind of a funny scene, if you think about it. I picture Jesus putting his hand on His forehead, looking down and muttering under His breath, "Oy vey! Three years with these guys and still they don't get me!"

   In the Isaiah text, God is saying the same thing to us all. He is reminding us that He's been there with us a really long time, and hasn't given up on us yet. He's reminding us that He's been with us through all of our hard times, and will stay with us no matter what.

   By the way He asks these questions God seems kind of sure of himself, doesn't he? In fact, that is part of His answer to the struggling people He is speaking with. You see, if you were able to just speak and create things, you would probably be pretty self-confident, too. He points to His place as the Creator as a good reason to not be in despair. This is the kind of knowing God expects most people to have, even those who don't necessarily have a personal relationship with Him. This phrase is from the book of Romans: "because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" The basic thought here being that if you just take a second or so to look at the creation, you see the clear marks of a Creator, and that those marks are so clear that everyone on the planet is held to account for that knowledge, and in this case this is meant as an encouragement that God is there for all of us when we need Him.

   He also says, "Have you not heard?" Imagine you are hiking in the mountains of New Zealand and you run into Paul McCartney at the turn of a bend in the trail. You walk by on the one side and he goes by, tips his hat to you and say, "Good day." You know by that voice that it really is him. What are the odds of that happening? Pretty low, but you never forget that moment. All of us have a celebrity story of some kind. Well, you see, God is the ultimate celebrity. Just like Madonna or Angelina Jolie or Michael Jackson or Elvis, God is well known. And when you see Him He expects you to know it was Him you saw. So how about you? When you had your celebrity moment with that famous sports figure or musician, did you just go on about your day? No way! You told your family, friends and co-workers all about it. And this is what it's been like with God since the beginning. When people had experiences with God they wrote it down or told somebody about it. That's what most of the Bible is, just people telling about their intense experience with God. So God asks "Have you not heard?" and He is basically saying "Hello! It's Me, God, speaking. You know me, right? Created the universe! Gave you life and breath! I wrote a book. It's a best seller. Heard of it?"

   So, as it is His nature to do, He mentions a few things about Himself that are meant to encourage us. First, He says that He is the Creator, which is an appeal to remember his power.  Then He says that He "neither faints nor is weary." This is where God's power coming into our sphere becomes personal. He is saying that, if we ask, His power is available to us. Then He just plainly says it, just in case there are some people out there who don't quite get it. "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength." So if you have ever been weak or felt that you had no might left in you, God is willing to lend His strength to get you through whenever you need help.

   The second aspect of His nature God mentions as available to all of us is his knowledge and understanding. "His understanding is unsearchable." God's point here is that even Google, Yahoo!, and Bing combined have nothing on Him. His knowledge, wisdom and understanding are available to those of us who choose to access it through relationship. This would be the big point He is making here. All of what God is in His power and His understanding are freely available to those who seek Him.

   So what about you? Have you ever felt this way or ever mouthed this question before: “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God”? If so, that would pretty much make you human, normal, and real. What you do next with this question is what is really important. Probably one of the most oft quoted promises of scripture is God's answer. It is on walls, posters, and refrigerators all over the world. I have this in a framed piece of art on my dresser. God says that:
          "Those who wait on Me (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.

  So what do you have to do to get this strength, to fly high like an eagle, run and not wear out, walk and not faint with exhaustion? You have to ask a question.

from: JavaJazzJesus