Don't let negativity pull you down

Say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you" Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs (Isaiah 35:4-7).

When Isaiah wrote these words, he was a man of hope surrounded by people who were trapped in despair.  Not that long ago, their nation had been torn apart by civil war.  Now a powerful army from the east threatened to bring more bloodshed to their land.   How could a farmer get work done in his fields if he always had to keep an eye out for enemies?  What kind of future could a mother promise to her children? 

Life was hard.  The people of that time did not have antibiotics. There were no pills to numb pain or ease anxiety.  Surgery was almost non-existent and a high-risk procedure.  The country was filled with people who were crippled for life by disease, accident and birth defect.  And there was no government support for the disabled, even if they were veterans of war.  Such people lived in poverty, begging for handouts.

It was not easy to earn a living.  Farmers did not have planters or combines, and if you wanted irrigation you had to dig trenches for the water.  Weeding was all done by hand.  There was no crop insurance; if you were wiped out by drought, storm or blight, you went hungry that year.  Fishing was iffy business, too.  When you let down your nets, there was no guarantee that they would catch anything.  No one had fish finders in those days.

Under these conditions, how could Isaiah speak of hope?  Where did he get the courage to speak of a bright tomorrow when so many people were suffering and afraid?  Didn’t he understand what they were going through?  Didn’t he sympathize with their pain?

Of course he did.  Isaiah was a man of God, and he shared God’s love for the people.  But wallowing in self-pity isn’t good for anyone.  Children need hope for the future, not to have their spirits crushed by constant gloom and doom.  People who have no hope surrender to the enemy.  People who have no hope lay down and die.

So God sent Isaiah to lift their spirits. Say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

Through Isaiah, God spoke of better days to come.  Enemies would lie defeated by the Lord’s mighty hand.  Those with incurable health problems would be healed.  People held captive by despair would sing for joy.  The land would yield food abundantly so no one need go hungry. 

But when would this happen?  How long would the people who were suffering have to wait?  God did not offer a target date.  He just told His people to be patient and trust Him.

They say that hindsight is 20/20 vision.  From our perspective of today, we can see when the Lord made good on His promises.  Even after Isaiah spoke God’s words, the threat of war continued to be problem for decades, until the country was finally attacked and crushed.  It was a long time before God punished the eastern nations for their mistreatment of the Israelites.  But when the hammer fell, God’s people were freed to resume their lives in peace.

Those who were disabled had to wait a little longer for the good days that Isaiah promised.  They had to wait for Jesus.  600 years after Isaiah spoke, the Son of God came into this world as a man—a man who knew what it was to suffer.  Jesus did not have much in the way of money.  He never owned a home or business.  He never married or had children.  He was treated by many with disrespect.  He was insulted and lied about.  He was arrested on false charges, yelled at, beaten, laughed at, and put to death.  As Isaiah writes, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering (53:3). 

Yes, Jesus understands what it is to suffer.  That’s why He came among us—to ease our suffering.  In Jesus, the words of Isaiah are fulfilled.  Consider the Gospel of Luke chapter seven: When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, `Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' " At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.  So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."  Jesus brought relief to many who suffered.  His fame as a healer grew to the point where He could not enter some towns because He would be mobbed. 

Yet healing sick bodies is not the main reason that Jesus came to visit us.  He could have worked sun up to sun down every day of the week, and people with health problems would have kept on coming.  There is an immense amount of suffering in this world, and it’s all because of sin.  Sin opposes God.  Sin undermines perfection.  Sin breaks things.  Sin causes accidents and decay.  Everything that’s wrong in the world draws its power from sin.

Sin is why Jesus came to live among us.  Jesus healed people, but suffering is only a symptom of the greater problem—sin.  To end our suffering, Jesus had to deal with sin once and for all.  He did this by suffering in our place on the cross.  We are sinners, and our sinfulness demands God’s punishment.  We are selfish and lazy.  We are quick to criticize and slow to forgive.  We ignore God except when we want something from Him.  God demands that we be perfect, but we break His laws every day by what we think, what we say, what we do or fail to do.

As sinners, we deserve to suffer.  So we should be grateful that God does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him (Psalm 103:11-13).  That compassion walked among us in Jesus, who suffered God’s punishment for our wrongdoing.  Going back to Isaiah, we read he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (53:5). 

Jesus suffered and died to release you from fear and despair.  Isaiah said, be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.  In Jesus, God took vengeance on the three great enemies that oppress us—sin, death, and the devil.  Jesus has paid off the debt of guilt incurred by our sin.  Through forgiveness, Jesus makes us members of His family, freeing us from Satan’s domination.  And Jesus rose from the dead to guarantee our eternal happiness at His side. We are freed from fear about what tomorrow might bring, because we know that our days are safe in the hands of the Lord. Because of Jesus, our silent tongues are moved to shout for joy.

But why does suffering still plague our lives? Why do babies die in childbirth? Why do loved ones get struck down by cancer?  Why do our bodies and minds grow weak with age? 

Jesus has dealt with sin; because of His sacrifice, every sinner can have the blessing of forgiveness.  But sin has not gone away; sin is still a constant problem.  Every day you are tempted to ignore God so you can do your own thing.  A lot of the time, you let sinful desires dictate your behavior.  Because of this, you must die—death is God’s curse on sin.  And that means you will suffer, because illness and accidents bring death into our lives. 

Death is inevitable, but it does not have the last word.  When Jesus forgives your sins, you also get His promise of eternal life in paradise.  Death is scary and death is a tragedy, but for the Christian death is also the beginning of something wonderful.  When the Son of God raises us from the dead, we will have the perfect bodies God always intended for us—there will be no need for glasses or hearing aids, wheelchairs or sign language.  It is this hope that lets us face death with confidence, not fear.

But what about the other words from Isaiah? Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.  Sad to say, but it’s still hard to earn a living.  For all our advances in technology, we can’t control the weather.  Fields are afflicted by weeds and bugs; machinery breaks down and you can’t always get a good price at harvest.  In many places, water is scarce; every day, people die of starvation or malnutrition. 

This will change when Jesus returns.  On that wonderful day, the Lord of Life will make everything new.  Death and danger will be a thing of the past; Isaiah writes the cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest (11:7-8).  And there will be plenty to eat, because God will set the table for us: the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines (Isaiah 25:6).  Best of all, Revelation chapter 22 says He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Isaiah trusted God to keep His promises; that faith enabled the prophet to live with hope, eyes fixed on the future, even when current circumstances looked bleak.  God will give you relief; it might not be today or tomorrow, but the relief will come if you don’t let Satan turn you away with all his negative talk.  When life has you feeling scared or hopeless, remember all that God has done for you in Christ, then follow the advice given by King David in Psalm 27: Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.