Have you ever watched children play hide and go seek? One of them counts, and the others scatter and try to hide. Then, when the seeker is finished counting, he tries to find and catch the other kids. Now, the youngest kids have found an easy way to hide. It is not as if the older ones haven*t discovered it. It is that they have discovered and discarded it. The youngest children will cover their eyes and think that because they can*t see anyone else, no one else can see them!
We laugh at such thinking, yet we do the same thing. A lot of times we just don*t see God. We don*t see God in our lives, in a given situation, or in the world at large. We don*t see God, and because we don*t see God, we think that maybe He doesn*t see us.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The people of Israel found themselves in this situation. Their prophet said to them, *Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?* He is saying, *Hey, Israel, why are you saying that God doesn*t know what is going on? Why are you saying that God doesn*t see what you are doing or what you need? Why do you think God cannot discern this?*
The reason Israel thought this way was because they had a tendency to esteem God like other people esteemed their many gods. The prophet asks in verse 25, *To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes… and behold.* He tells them the things they should behold. He basically says, *Look at Who has created everything that you see! Who knows the stars and made them? Who can hold the seven seas in His hand? Who can measure the universe with the length of His hand? Look up and see this God for Who He is.*
Verse 28 says, *Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God…fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint.* God is both capable and caring. Some people care about you, but they don*t have the ability to do anything about your situation. Other people could write a check for a million dollars tomorrow, but they don*t know or care about you. But God is both capable and caring. One trait gives validity to the other.
So, as Isaiah 40:31 says, *Wait upon the Lord.* When we do that, we will renew our strength. What does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In this verse, waiting on God means looking for God when we think He does not see us. There will be times when you think that God just doesn*t know. At that time, lift up your eyes and wait upon the Lord. Remember that just because you do not see God does not mean that God does not see you. He does care, and He is perfectly capable for every task at hand.
You may contact Ron with questions, comments or prayer requests via email at ronsbibletopics@yahoo.com.