God Cares For You

Isaiah 40:26-9: "Lift up 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. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God'? 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 the power of the weak."

When we are faced with those "dark nights of the soul" in which we struggle for deliverance from the circumstances that burden us, we can fall prey to the fallacious notion that God is either not able or willing to carry us through our ordeals. We cry out to God, asking "Why? . . . Why God are you letting this happen to me? Where are you God? Are you even there? Are you listening?" In our depression, we can be tempted to give up on God and become numb to our reality as we just seem to "exist" through our life experience. We move into an apathetic spirit as we simply don't care anymore; we hate the notion of God as the lover of our souls because we don't believe He really cares for us (if He is even real at all).

The prophet Isaiah records for us in the above cited verses that God genuinely is concerned with every detail of our lives, and He commits Himself to us during those most trying times which rock the foundations of our being. The prophet, writing under the inspiration of God, asks us to look to the heavens to reclaim a right perspective on the Lord Almighty. As we look toward the starry hosts, too numerous to count in their expansiveness, we are reminded that not only did God create these heavenly bodies, but He calls each of them by name and knows where each of them are. God in His infinite knowledge is able to know the intricate details of each extraterrestrial body; and in His infinite love, He is able to devote His attention to their unique circumstances. God neither is unable nor indifferent to each ingredient in his unfathomable creation.

With this in mind, Isaiah questions why we then would falsely conclude that our specific circumstances are somehow hidden and/or disregarded by the Lord. Again, Isaiah reminds us that God is the Sovereign Creator who knows all things, has the power to intervene in all circumstances, and has infinite love for us. He is never wearied by the expansiveness and the complexity of our circumstances. Instead, God is ready to grant us His strength and power to face our obstacles in life, no matter what they might be. What we must do is put our hope in Him as Lord . . . it is only then that we are able to be renewed by His glorious strength, so that we can "soar on wings like eagles" in the midst of our painful trials.

The Apostle Paul echoes these words of advice when he encourages us to put on "faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet" (I Thessalonians 5:8). These metaphorical expressions of a soldier's armor are intended to remind us that our best defense against the onslaught of grief is to put our faith, love, and hope in the Lord. He will shield us from capitulating to our circumstances in despair and careless resignation. With the Lord's loving care, we are able to weather the storms of life and be strengthened in our resolve to trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, no matter what befalls us. And in this way, we bring the best glory to God, for we are living lives of surrender to Him, no matter the circumstance.

When we find ourselves spiraling into the abyss of hopeless depression, let us take time to look to the heavens and be reminded of the stars and God's focused attentiveness to each one of them. Let us be reminded that not only is God able to care for each of us, but He earnestly desires to reach out to us in our darkest moments and shower us with His loving presence. Let us be strengthened through His grace in order that we can soar on wings like eagles, gliding on the power of the currents of His eternal love for us. If we are willing to be carried along by His Spirit, we will find ourselves experiencing the joy of our salvation in truly supernatural ways; and this joy will guide us through life until the day of our glorification.