Sometimes even Christians with strong faith may look at the evil and problems of the world and wonder where God is. Does He care? And if He does care, why isn’t He doing something about the state of our world? If God is a God of love, why doesn’t He protect His people, and if God is a God of justice, why doesn’t He punish evil? God may seem so distant and unconcerned with our problems that He might as well be sleeping. We may feel like calling out in these words from Isaiah 51:9 and 10 –
“Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?”
We know the stories of God’s power and strength from our knowledge of the Bible. We know how He acted in “days of old.” We know how He humiliated the gods of Egypt during the exodus, represented here by “Rahab.” But where is He now? When we are discouraged, we may think He is asleep. However, He is not asleep, so what’s going on?
When Isaiah says, “awake, awake,” it is because his awareness of God has grown dim, not because God actually sleeps. Like Isaiah we can be more or less aware of God at different times. We also may be more or less aware of particular attributes of God. At times, we may “feel” God’s love, or mercy, or power, but not all of these at once. Often, when good things happen, we are aware of His love, and when bad things happen, we are aware of His justice. When times are uneventful, we may forget He is involved at all. He doesn’t seem to us like the God we read about in the Bible. Our knowledge of Him is incomplete and inconsistent.
When Isaiah said to God “awake, awake” he was prophesying to Israelites facing exile. Israelites who might forget the power of the Lord. But Isaiah told them that they must know that all of God is always with them. God is able to fulfill His purposes. God is awake and cares about them, but in their present circumstances this would be hard to believe. Likewise, our circumstances often make us see an incomplete picture of God. We are all in exile in this world, and there is much to question. Injustice and violence. Calamity and disaster. Blasphemy and apostacy. Sin and hypocrisy. Where is God?
At these times, it is essential to remember the times God acted on behalf of His people, and on behalf of us! It is essential to remind ourselves of God’s character. Our God declared Himself to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”[1] When will He show Himself as such? As God said to Habakkuk: “the righteous shall live by his faith”[2] Faith that the full impact of God’s love and justice may be delayed, but it will not be delayed forever. Even when God seems to be asleep, He is not. God is awake!
When we feel the need to cry “awake, awake” note what Isaiah said next in Isaiah 51:11, which says:
“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
God will save His people because He tells us He will. It might not look like it on some (or many) days, but “the righteous shall live by his faith.” Pray for God to teach us that His promises are enough, even when things don’t make sense. He is awake!
Amen.
