“Do you not know? Do you not hear? … Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth … who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness …. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name … Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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.”
(Isaiah 40:21-23, 26a, 27-31 ESV)
I love the poetry of this passage. God on high, looking down on the world—leading the stars out in order—people as tiny as grasshoppers before Him. But I didn’t get the point until God says, “Why do you say … ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’?” What’s the connection there? And then it hit me. If God sees and knows everything, then my personal situation is one of the things He sees, right? He knows about my problems with my neighbor, the trouble at home, the situation with a co-worker. Whatever it is, it is not hidden from God’s eyes. And if He knows, He can do something about it, right?
So it makes sense to ask Him for help. I don’t have to worry that He won’t have enough capacity to pay attention to me. God has all the ability in the world! If He wants to focus on the personal problems of an earthworm, He can do it with no trouble at all. And that means that I can bring all my needs to Him—big, small, in-between—and trust that He will hear me, and that He will care.
But how do I know He will care? Because of Jesus. Jesus is God Himself, come down from heaven, confining Himself in the limits of a human body and mind, all so He can talk to us—be with us—suffer and die for us, and then rise again. Jesus is God come into His own creation to make things better. Through His suffering and death He broke the power of evil forever; and now that He has risen from the dead, He is always there to listen to us and help us as we wait for the day when He makes all things new again. Jesus can care about someone as small as me; and so I will gladly throw all my burdens on Him. Won’t you do the same?
We Pray: Dear holy God, thank You that You care so much for us You came down into our world to save us. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on January 30, 2024
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights
Reflection Questions:
1. What kinds of things make you think of God’s greatness: the stars? The ocean? Why?
2. What things remind you that He knows you intimately and loves you?
3. What is one need you could bring to Him right now in prayer?