Dependability

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. (Isaiah 40:28 KJV)

Isaiah knew what the kingdom of Judah faced with Babylon. He encouraged them through the sufficiency of their Lord. As one commentary puts it:

Since the Creator knows the name of everything in His complex creation, how could He, the God of Israel, possibly forget His covenant people? Since He is as powerful as He is, how could He be incapable of helping them? . . . He is eternal, not bound to the present, as we are. He is Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God. He is the Creator of all the earth, not restricted to only one locale at a time. He does not grow tired, because He is omnipotent. He is inscrutable, because He is omniscient. He is unlimited by time, space, power, and understanding

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31 KJV)

God is dependable. He is all the words that define dependable: trustworthy, reliable, faithful, unfailing. We don’t know how to depend on – to rely on, to be determined by or to be controlled – Him. In fact, we do not wish to be controlled by anyone or to have our lives determined by anyone. Truthfully, do we?

Yet, that’s what He asks. He asks that we wait upon Him.

That might have a double meaning – to serve Him, or to be patient with Him. Even the Hebrew קוה has no single meaning – to wait, look for, hope – or to collect, bind together. Either one should be how we respond to God. We need to depend on Him as well as be of service to Him.

Verse 31 is my Beloved Husband’s favorite verse. All three times he was in ICU, that verse was on the wall across from his bed where he could see it every time he awakened. He knew that waiting upon the Lord was the way to renew his strength. Not a very patient man, he learned patience while being controlled by others. For a while, he could not expel air from his lungs. He discovered that depending on others – and a machine – could provide the very breath he needed to live. And that scriptures brought strengthened faith.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (Matthew 4:3 KJV)

I’m afraid this is still done, too often.  “If you are real, God, then . . .” and we insert what we want into the equation. Jesus had the answer we are too limited to use:

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 KJV) (see also Deuteronomy 8:3)

Am I capable of depending on what I read in God’s word to build a relationship with Him? If not – why? If so, am I dependable in doing?