February 3, 2021
Isaiah 40:21-31New Revised Standard Version
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to live in;
23 who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.
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”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Pandemic Fatigue
As we leap into another year of the pandemic we are all just so tired. We are tired because we’ve been doing things differently for so long, people continue to get covid 19, people continue to die, we’re still staying home, and it’s all just so much to deal with sometimes.
The American Medical Association describes pandemic fatigue as, “At this point in the pandemic, people are tired of being cooped up due to restrictions on indoor gatherings outside the home. They are also tired of wearing masks, physical distancing, being away from family and friends, and increasingly fed up with the “new normal” routines. People are experiencing a type of burnout that experts are calling COVID-19 fatigue, which can lead to careless behaviors and a sharp rise in cases.” I know I’m feeling the burnout, maybe you are too. I’m tired of not seeing people, visiting, having worship in weird ways. I’m ready to go back to normal!
The israelites to whom the prophet Isaiah is writing are tired too, they too want things to be back to normal. They have been exiled from their homes, they are in new and strange lands, away from the promised land that God had given them. In their suffering and tiredness they have forgotten who they are and more importantly, who God is.
In this passage Isaiah reminds them of God’s presence with them even during this difficult time. It is only because of God that they have survived times of struggle and suffering before, so why are they doubting God and turning to other gods?
Isaiah reminds them that it is God who made them in the beginning and it is that same God who is with them now. They might be tired, suffering, and weary but God does not grow weary of loving them and being with them in their time of need.
Just as God was with the israelites in their suffering in exile, the God who created us is with us now too in our suffering, tiredness, grief, and doubt.
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