Isaiah 41

Isaiah 41:13-14 (ESV)

For I, the LORD your God,

hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, “Fear not,

I am the one who helps you.”

Fear not, you worm Jacob,

you men of Israel!

I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD;

your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 40 has long been one of my favorite chapters as it reveals the greatness of God, but Isaiah 41 is a close second. The nations are gathered before God for judgment. They are looking to their gods for protection, and find none. God lays a challenge before them. Which of the gods of the world can tell the future? Their gods are helpless creations of mankind. In the presence of Creator God, they are powerless.

In the press for inclusive globalism and peaceful coexistence I find it fascinating in our day that there is little outrage when Christians are beheaded for their faith, but it is an incredible scandal when teachers, politicians, or public figures speak of their faith. There is a double-standard that makes no sense except when one realizes that this is a battle between the powerless gods of this world, and the Creator of the Universe. The gods of inclusive globalism and peaceful coexistence lose all their peaceful inclusivism when it comes to followers of Jesus Christ.

But one day…  One day the Creator will call all mankind to answer for their actions. One day the Creator will prove his truth and power in a way that will cause all others to acknowledge who he is. One day the gods of this world will be shown to be powerless. One day… In the meantime, how does a Christ follower live? The same way Judah was to live, by faith. They were to trust that God would care for them even in the darkest times. They were to trust that God is the one true God of truth and power who loves and cares for his people. They were to walk by faith.

We are nothing. We have nothing to add to God, or give to him that he does not already have. We are as worms in his presence, and yet his loves and cares for us. He says to present day believers, as he said to Judah, “I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you’” (Is 41:13). He is the true God. He keeps his word.