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Lent 2025: April 6

 Our pastor preached from Isaiah 40 this morning. 

Higher critics say this was written by a different "prophet" than Isaiah because the things prophesied had already happened. Somewhat of an oxymoron. 

But Isaiah 40 does have an interest rhetorical take--lots of questions, much like the end of Job.

Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on 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.  

Our pastor did a wonderful job of explicating the flow here. Even those who cannot run will be able to walk and not fall over. Recently I have become more aware of the difficulty of getting out of bed; once up, I'm fine, but something more than bodily fatigue keeps my head on the pillow. I know it is a spiritual problem. In my youth, that was a euphemism for "sin in one's life." How sad that everything is reduced to such a formula. 

No, it is about waiting on the Lord. Pastor said this phrase is layered with trust and time and hope and expectancy.  I know this is tied to the idea that I will no longer be employed on June 1. I can't deny that the idea of retirement is "tiring" me. That is my spiritual struggle--waiting for what God will do in a future very different from what I have known. 

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