“Hidden in Plain Sight” (Isaiah 40:21-31)

During the time of the prophet Isaiah, especially during the Babylonian Exile, that the Israelites had a pretty low opinion of themselves . . . after all, they had pretty much run amuck of God’s desires, had been stomped into the ground by the Babylonians who destroyed everything and exiled them from their homeland, and now they were captives in a strange land thinking that God had given up on them.  They were crushed . . . and, they were without hope.  So crushed and without hope they could not even cry out to God . . . a God that they could not see beyond the punishment that had been dealt them.  They were giving up on God.

Yet, Isaiah preached to them that God would set them free and return them to their homeland . . . over and over again, he preached this message to them.  The people had a difficult time believing him.  In their situation, God was nowhere to be seen . . . or so they thought.

Isaiah did not care too much for this short selling of God.  He is in disbelief that the people are drowning in their hopelessness.  He just cannot believe it.  He prods the people with his words: “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  Has it not been told you from the beginning?  Have you not understood since the earth was founded?”  The prophet wants the people to understand . . . God hasn’t gone anywhere.  God has always been there . . . from the very beginning . . . God is with the people.  God is the all-everything . . . the supreme being and creator of all things and people . . . the caretaker of it all.  God is there.  He urges the people to quit their complaining . . . to quit their hopelessness . . . to quit throwing pity parties.  And, he urges them to believe and embrace the God that surrounds them like the air that they breathe . . . for in God, all things are possible . . . even freedom and returning home.  But, you have got to believe.

Well, it is difficult to believe when it feels like the only luck you’ve ever had was bad luck.  The Israelites were definitely down in the dumps . . . paying the price for their sinfulness, and thinking that God sure didn’t have the time or energy for such a broken people.  That old song about bad luck from Hee Haw was probably their theme song.  You remember that song?

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

I imagine that we have all been down in that dump at some point in our lives.  Wallowing in the darkness of our own hopelessness and despair . . . feeling lost . . . feeling forgotten . . . not even a blip on God’s screen.  So low that we forget.  We forget whose we are . . . we are the children of God.  We are loved.  We are desired and wanted.  We are never alone. God is with us . . . always with us.

It’s hard to remember that when life is pounding us senseless.

That is why the prophet Isaiah harped on this fact to the Israelites held captive in Babylon.  He cries out to them, and to us: “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”  He wants the people to believe!  He wants them to believe that God will take care of them.  If they believe, they will find strength . . . strength to endure anything . . . even exile in a strange and foreign land.  With God they can endure anything.

Why?

Because, says Isaiah, “He gives strength to the weary and increases in the power of the weak.  Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

So it is with us, if we believe.

In these times in our lives when we feel lost and hopeless, God is not hidden from us . . . and, nor are we hidden from God.  It might feel like it, but we are not hidden from God, nor is God hidden from us.  It feels like that because we have become unbalance in our lives and in our hearts . . . we are spinning out of control . . . and, the darkness seems to be blotting out our sight.  Everything becomes a blur.  And yet, God is with us . . . God is around us like the air we breathe.  We only have to believe to see.

Isaiah points this out while trying to convince the people of God’s presence.  He tells them that God is “right there” . . . right there in plain sight.  He points to the starry skies: “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.  Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”  So is God’s love for them . . . they are numbered, named, loved, and desired.

I shouldn’t have to point out to any of you of the evidence of God living where we do . . . God’s beauty is all around us . . . the mountains, the streams, the wide-open sky, the heavenly stars . . . God is all around us in the beautiful creation of where we live.  It is there for the seeing . . . hidden in plain sight.  Nor should I have to point out, as you glance around this sanctuary . . . as you look at your fellow sojourners--your brothers and sisters in faith . . . that God is here in this place.  In a kind word, a gentle hug, in the soaring voice of song, in the prayers that are shared . . . God is there for the seeing . . . hidden in plain sight.

God is all around us.  God is with us in the good times . . . and, in the bad times.  God is in the light, and in the darkness.  God is with us . . . and, God has always been with us.  The proof of God always with us can be found in the scriptures we read . . . in the words of the saints . . . in the songs that we sing.  They all proclaim that God is with us.

God is with us . . . all we have to do is to believe.  Believe and trust.  The more that we believe and trust in God, the more that God’s presence is revealed to us.  God has always been with us.  Isn’t that what we discover when we come out of the darkness of our hopelessness and despair . . . God was always with us.

Isaiah reminds us: “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases in the power of the weak.  Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Believe and rest in the assurance that God is with you.  Amen.