All right, let's take our Bibles and turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40 for me is a spot in my Bible reading where it's like, all right, this is understandable and fun. Scripture, all of it's profitable, all of it's from God, all of it's important. But even the apostle Paul, was referred to by Peter, Peter said, you know, there's things the apostle Paul wrote that are hard to understand in the Bible. And there are, they're easy and there's hard. And so when I'm reading the Old Testament, you know, a couple, three times a year reading through there and I'm reading, it's like, okay, I love to get past Leviticus. Don't blame me, you're in the same spot. Anybody have a late verse out of Leviticus? wonderful book, says some wonderful things, and then says what God wanted us to hear. So there's no criticism of it, but some of it... jumps out and bites you, some of it just doesn't. So when I'm reading through even something like Isaiah, and you get into these prophecies, and they're great, and they're there, and there is benefit and growth and cleansing in just the reading of them, okay? So there's no criticism of it. But then you get to one that's like, oh, I understand this. This is like, well, thank you, Lord. And so Isaiah chapter 40 is that for me. among other passages of scripture that I read. So, what, we've been thinking about this, what does this next year hold for us? Anybody think about that? Anybody got the answer? It's a tough one, is it not? When you think of a country, everything, everything, it's like every year, it's like, you think it couldn't get worse or crazier than you blink. And it is. And then you think the same thing and, and God's always good. His word's always true. And everything around us is falling apart. And apart from God's grace, it all ends in eternal damnation. So that's the cheerful note for the evening. Um, and, and what I, when I was studying through here, reading through here, it dawned on me that, um, what does the next year hold is not really the best question to ask. It's who holds the next year. Cause that's, that's, you know, you can be five and in junior church. I know that one. I know that one. Okay. And you, and you answer because you, you got the right answer. But as you grow and get older in Christ, it's way more than jumping up with an answer. Cause you got the right one. It's like, that's true. Isn't it? All of our worries, all of our concern. I mean, are they legitimate? Turn the news on, look at your phone. Not right now. Yeah. And it's like, you cannot make this stuff up. It is so ridiculous and so utterly awful. So that was a cheerful note. Have a good year. So it's not what? We kind of know what it holds, but sometimes it's worse than we expect. Sometimes it's a little better than we expect. But the real focus in Isaiah chapter 40 is who? Look, I'm gonna just kind of zip through from verse 12 down to the text here, if you'll just take a little trip with me. Verse 12, who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span and enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure? Who? Who has measured the spirit of the Lord or what man shows him his counsel? Who did he consult? Who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice? Verse 18, to whom then will you liken God? Verse 22, it is he who sits above the circle of the earth and in his habitants or his grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, who brings princes to nothing. Verse 25, to whom then will you compare me? It's all about who, not what. And perhaps it's just natural to us and not everybody's identical, but normally, What we worry about is what? And don't focus as often on us. The upside here for us as believers, we start talking about who, and is that good news or bad news? It's like the best. Does it make a difference? When we start thinking about the good news, that's like you could say something. Like, yes. It changes the life, the temperature, the issue of hope and be able to face the year. Are you really ready for this next year? Elections again, shoot me, stab me, that's your choices. Seriously, all due respect, it's just true. Can't watch the Olympics without, I can't watch it anyway because my television wasn't working. And I'm here. But the obscene insulting of the Lord's, the supper with Christ and his disciples, the last supper. It's like, you can't make it up. So, and this trajectory is not going up until God intentionally, dramatically, in fulfillment of scripture, steps from behind the curtains and intervenes both feet into the affairs of men. What a day that will be. And that's what happens in Isaiah 40 and until about 46, 47, then it gets a little dicey again. Okay. But the, this is the, This is a cake and ice cream bar. And so that's what I wanted to spend a little time focusing on. So. When we think about who. What should we be thinking about? And there's a lot, there's a whole Bible full, okay? But in this text, what does he do? When we get down to verse 27, 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 creature, the creator, excuse me, 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 youth 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 as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. What does Isaiah, under the inspiration of God, remind God's people who are suffering about? He reminds them about God's power. None of this is really high tech stuff. Slower shelf where we all live, actually. So what should I, how do I face, whatever's happened, whoever's going to get in the, whoever gets in the White House, whoever takes over Congress, whoever gets on the Supreme Court, whoever wins the Superbowl, oh no, not that one, okay. But whoever, what am I supposed to do? What can I do about these things? And he says, what he does for the readers of Isaiah, what he does for them, he says, here's what you need to focus on. Here's what you need to focus on. Remember how powerful God is. Remember how powerful God is. Have you not known? Have you not heard? And then he goes on to describe it. The Lord is one, he says here, eternal, not limited by time, always sees and works in the context of the big picture, never late, never early, never panicked, never hurry. You know, God doesn't worry. Well, of course he knows what he's gonna do next, okay? But knowing what he knows is going to come. And knowing what he knows he's going to do and not do, he's not in a hurry. He is not limited by time, he's eternal. Psalm 90 says this, before the mountains were brought forth or ever you would form the earth and the world from everlasting to when? Let's just see if you'll know the, From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. What about the next thing that flashes on your TV screen or your phone screen about this guy said, or this person who's running for office or whatever, it's like, here's the deal. From everlasting to everlasting, who's God? That's why I wanted to answer, because you got to say God's God. Okay, but who's in charge? Who knows? Who's got this? He hasn't told us all about it, but who's got this? He does. And just knowing that changes, doesn't change the headlines, but it changes everything in my heart. He's eternal. Some cross-references I'm gonna use here, for me, they're killers. I mean, like I'm reading them and they just tear me up. And they're not new, obviously, and they're not new to me. But what we need to do, instead of wondering what's happening in our lives and what this year will hold, remember that God holds the year and He holds us, and He's eternal. He is the one and only true creator. He's not limited by space or time. And we can't figure that out. He's eternally past, eternally present, and eternally future. I learned that somewhere. But how does that work? I don't know. Anybody who says you know is either a child or an adult acting like a child, because we don't know. But he is the one and only creator, not limited by space or power. He never faints or fails or grows weary. His strength is never frustrated or exhausted. If he's not visibly working in your life right now, it is not because he's too tired or weak or that he's not working, you just don't see it. But then God has told us he's working in our lives when we don't see it. It's not a secret how God works in our lives. His wisdom is beyond human measure. So if he's waiting, waiting to act, it's because his wisdom and love dictates that he waits. I wish he'd hurried up on the politician thing. Don't you? But then you and I don't know all that would happen in cleaning up the politician thing. Exactly, do we? He does. He hears our prayers, he waits, he acts, he gets it right every time. Romans 8, 28, works all things together for our good. The living example of that to me, one of the most classic ones is Joseph, the whole life of Joseph and all that he experienced and all that he went through, all that he was able to do. Remember God's power. So he took the young, everybody hated him little brother, and made him the second most powerful man in the world. God can get it done. He knows, he can. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, Romans 11, 33 and 34. how unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor? Or who has been his counselor? So, what he wants us to do, What he's telling us to do here is to remember his power. And then to help clarify this and make this a little more practical, he wants us to see how he uses his power. What does God do with his power? Verse 29. He gives power. What does it say? He gives power to the faint. So, The president, the vice president, the new guy, the old guy, this Congress, that Congress, what are they doing? Who knows? What are they gonna say? Whatever they say today, they're gonna deny they said anyhow, even though we all heard it. He, God, uses his power and in doing that, what he does, he gives power to others. the faint, to those who have no strength, to those whose strength is spent, exhausted, about to fail. God gives strength, ability, might, force, substance. It's the man of principle. He doesn't give us a whole big lump of wisdom and strength and might and force at one time, but that's what God does. He has the power, he is God, he is available, he is aware, he is good, he is kind, and he uses it. And what he says here at the crux of the matter, he gives his power to whom? The weary, the faint, the weak. We qualify, right? We qualify. To those whose strength is spent, exhausted, about to fail, God gives strength, ability, might, force, substance. To those without power, he increases strength. So I'm out of bullets, I'm out of energy, I'm out of answers. Do you ever feel like that? Only on days that end with Y, right? And so he says, so that's who God has. God has the back of those who need Him, who know they need Him and come to Him. It's true in salvation, it was true with the Apostle Paul. I wanna read some verses that are very familiar, but are very appropriate at this time. 2 Corinthians 12, verses nine to 12. But he said to me, Okay. So God gives strength. Who does he give his strength to? The powerful? No, they already have their own. Okay. He gives strength to the weak, to the hurting, to the needy, to those who don't have answers, to those who don't have an obvious way out or way in. But he said to me, so what should I be thinking about what I don't have? He says, here's the deal. He said to me, my grace, is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in what? Weakness. You got any of that? Will you admit that you have that? Will you own that rather than cover or deny that? So God has all this strength and power, and how does he use it? He gives it to those. Now, if he gave it to all the weak anyway, then some, everybody'd be fine, and everybody's not fine, because he only gives it to the weak who know they're weak. He only forgives sin for those who know they're sinners. So he says, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses. so that the power of Christ may rest in me for the sake of Christ, and I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Now, all that sounds clever and good, and we know that, and it's a song and all that stuff, but we don't tend to think that way or feel that way when we are made by God's grace, painfully aware of our weakness. It's always there. And yet he says, what I understand is when, here's what God does with his strength. He is all powerful. What does he do with it? He helps the weak. Not in a welfare state kind of a system. He helps the weak. He saves the weak. So God's promise is to this specific people, okay? So he describes them down here as those who wait upon the Lord, right? The ones who wait for, look for, hope in, endure, keep on looking for with eager anticipation to or for the Lord. He gives his power that healed the leper, that raised the dead, that conquered the grave to those who are weak. He says this, David said this actually, I am still confident of this. I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord. Psalm 27, 13 through 14. So, what am I supposed to be doing with the world on fire and all crazy? I am to be Remembering God's scrape, he made everything and he's holding it together. And he gives that strength and power, not for us to do anything we wanna do with it in some selfish way, he gives it to the weak who are in desperate need of his strength and wisdom. So, God gives this, anybody weak here? Anybody not have answers that they need desperately? Anybody not struggling here? He says, here's the deal. Okay, to the weak, I will give my strength. Literally, it's a sure deal. He says, look down here in verse 29, he gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted, 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, they shall walk and not faint. So, what's the deal? They will literally, the language reads, if they wait on the Lord, if they count on him and trust him and obey him. Is God always on time when, on your time? No. He's on his own time. I got my time. When do we want what we need? When do we want what you want? Now. And sometimes God does that. Other times he does not. But here's the deal. He says, those who wait, they count on God and all this craziness. So who's going to fix our nation? Maybe nobody. And it may be the God's going to fix it through his judgment, right? That is a fix. And maybe it'll be something wonderful and glorious restoration of principles and values and biblical leadership. But either way, my strength is given and grown and poured into my life through God's grace. They will exchange their strength for God's strength. That's what, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. That phrase renew the strength is exchange. So I give God my strength, which is not so much, right? And he gives me his. Not to leap tall buildings in a single bound or even to break par, okay? But he gives me his strength to serve, to live, to give, to lead, to disciple, to grow. At the end of this little outline we went over here, I wanna flip over one page, it's one page of my Bible to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. And frankly, trying to work through all this text for me was about getting to this place right here. So, what are we gonna do about what's going on in the world? Oh boy, it's a great question. What's God gonna do? He says this in 43, 43 one, but now thus sayeth the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, it shall not burn you, and the flame shall not consume you, for I am the Lord your God. The Holy One of Israel, your Savior, I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you, because you are precious in my eyes. To me, what this does for us at the end of, okay, so it's not rocket science, okay? We don't want to be depending on, counting on, following self-reliance in the world. We do want to count on the Lord and His work. So we want to be on His power and remember His promise. What He promises is this, He says, Okay. So I interrupt myself here for a minute. So you ever get really nervous, get really frustrated. Do you ever like throw, don't throw it at the TV because you'll break something, but you ever feel like throwing something at a TV. Do you ever tell, did you ever tell him when nobody else is in the room, did you ever yell at him and tell him to shut up? See, look at that bunch of sinners here. Okay. At the end of this simple reminder of God's strength and his promise to use his strength to bring us to him and bring glory to him, he says this, stop being afraid, which doesn't mean you can just turn the knob off, okay? But he says, stop being afraid, fear not, thus says the Lord. And that word, Lord, all the way through this passage of scripture is the familiar word for God. It's the I am to Moses. And basically what he's saying, that word, Lord, is the God who is, as opposed to all the gods who aren't, which there's a bunch of, okay? So the God who is, The one who created you, O Jacob. The one who formed you, O Israel. Fear not for I have redeemed you. So look at the newspaper, think about what's going on at work. Think about what's going on in the world. Think about what's going on in the Middle East. All the stuff, think about that, okay? And he says, here's what I want you to remember. I have redeemed you. I have paid for you with my blood, my son's blood. I have this, that, you know, there's a lot. And he says, here's what I want you to know. God says, I have redeemed you. Boom. Not like I can redeem you. I've done it. It's done. I've redeemed you. I have called you by name. Yes, you. I've called you. I've called you by name. It happened when you were five years old or 55 years old or 105 years old, but he called your name. So how do I face what, how do I face this crazy year, which can only get worse? It's a shoot me, stab me kind of a choice. How do I do that? God says, okay, okay, here's the deal. I have redeemed you. I paid for you. Yes, you. Not like, yeah, you're in because I paid for everybody. No, he says, I called you by name. God knows your name. I called you by name. I have redeemed you, I've called you by name, you are mine. What about the news? What about the Democrats? What about the Republicans? What about the whoever, the hooligans, whoever they are, okay? What about this? God says, I'm talking to you. I'm telling you, I redeemed you. I called you by name. Yeah, you were four years old, kneeling down by your bed or 44 years old, sitting in your car. But what you heard, the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your heart was God calling your name. How do I deal with this year coming up? I remember, he paid for me. You mean you paid for everybody? Yeah, but he paid, you know, fewer lines than I pay for everybody. And you get there and like, well, not you. Okay. He paid for me. He redeemed me. I've called you by name and you are mine. That's what God says to you and me as believers tonight. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, and there will be waters, there'll be junk, there'll be difficulties, there'll be obstacles, there'll be human reasons for legitimate fear, but when you're there, not if, when you're there, I will be with you. Does that change anything? Kind of a trick question. It changes everything. The water's still cold and still rushing, but the bottom line is, okay, so you're a little kid, and there's a bad thunderstorm, and you were scared out of your mind, so you went running into your parents' room, and you jumped in bed, okay? Would that stop lightning from hitting your house? Well, no. Sorry, but no. The truth is, but it's still, everybody was fine. You went right to sleep then. Your parents didn't, because they heard that they're worried about this. Did you close the window in the car? Did you, you know, whatever, all this stuff, right? You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, covering all the bases, water and fire, you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you for I am the God who is. I'm not the politician, I'm not the guy who works for the big companies making you a promise that they won't keep you. He says, I am the Lord is your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Savior. What do I need to know? God is powerful. And he says, I'm his. So there. Will it change the news? Nope. Will it change how you feel about everything? Yeah, yep. God is powerful. And God uses that power to make the weak his children. And he sought you. He knocked on the door of your heart. He opened your heart. And if he hasn't yet, he wants to. And he embraced our weakness and exchanged our weakness with his strength. exchange our sin with his grace. I just, that last, I never have, I've never done a mic drop. I've seen him on TV, but I have this, I'll confess. I have this feeling that this is like a big mic drop. It's just like, So, whatever happens on the news tomorrow, whatever happens in whatever email you get, whatever letter you get, if you're a child of God by faith alone in Christ alone, here's the deal. He redeemed you. He paid for you on purpose, knowing who you would be. He paid for you. He called you by name, whoever, come on in, whoever. And there's a whosoever wills in God's word. But the bottom line is he's saying, when it came down to you really believing, he called your name. And he says, whatever the Democrats or Republicans say, he says, you are mine, not me, his. He says, you're mine. What does that fix? It doesn't fix your car, it's still broken. Okay, I understand that. But as far as your heart and life, it changes everything. Changes everything. For I am the God who is your God. But are you a Democrat or a Republican? Are you an independent? Are you confused? God says, I got you. I've had you and I've got you. I'm in this big mess. God says, I know I'm with you in the big mess. You're mine. Wouldn't it be, well, it would be probably theologically incorrect, but it was just imagine if, if, uh, God, if you walk around the corner, Jesus is there. He's omnipresent, but he's not there that way. And he says, Tim, just want you to know, you're mine. Can't happen, not gonna happen. Not that way, anyway. But he says, Tim, you're mine. That about does it. You are mine. I'm your savior. So as we face this year, rather than think about what's going on and what's going to happen, think about the who. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am with you always, even unto the end of this age. Does that change anything? It actually changes everything. Think about the who, not about the what. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for loving us. Thank you that you paid for us and you knew what you were getting. You paid for us. You redeemed us. You, you, you know, our names, you pick this out specifically, you know, my name. You made me yours by your grace. So there's a lot of stuff's gonna go on this year that we don't know yet, but nothing's going to change the fact that I'm yours. And remembering that changes a lot of things for me. I pray, Lord, that these simple, really simple truths, kind of done in a messy way as far as explaining them, that these truths would sink deeply in. And we remember, you saying in your word, black and white, you are mine. Thank you for your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.