10. Human Frailty

Meditations on Isaiah 40: No.10.  Human Frailty

Isa 40:7   The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.  Surely the people are grass

We saw the prophetic picture: “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.” (v.6b) and we considered how God sees mankind as He designed us to be before sin entered the word, and how we can be living in redeemed relationship with Him. That was verse 6, the good news, but now we have to move on to maintain a right perspective in verse 7.

Oh, how we so easily loose a right perspective!  You see the folly of mankind as it is displayed in Psa 2: “Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” (Psa 2:1-3) The picture is of pride and arrogance that first of all misunderstands God’s love and tolerance, and then thinks they can oppose God and get their own way.

So much of the time our problem is that we lose perspective and much of the rest of the chapter is about regaining a right perspective about God and us. It is not that God wants us to be cringing, servile creatures – in fact exactly the opposite – but to become the opposite we first have to realize the truth about God and then us. Although, in my chapter breakdown at the beginning of this series, I made a division at verse 12, there is a hint of verses 12 to 31 here in verse 7, a declaring of a right perspective.

Very well, what particular aspect of grass and flowers are we now talking about? That they are beautiful? Not quite! “The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.” (v.7a) Oh! There are two things in this verse. These ‘plants’ die off so easily and especially when God blows on them.  We considered in the previous study, the picture of faithfulness and I said then we are now talking about frailty shown in failing faithfulness. We need to see this in the big picture.

What challenges our faithfulness?  Trials and tribulations, and when we are going through times of discipline (that the Lord brings as He ‘blows’ on us) we can see these as times of trouble, and we then grumble. That is what is at the heart of this, not only our frailty but, as we just said, frailty in respect of our faithfulness, especially under times of testing, times of discipline. Trials show the quality (or otherwise) of our faithfulness.

We used Abram as an example just now, and the way the Lord taught him should be an example to us. He had received the words of blessing from the Lord, he left his home and went to Canaan and there the Lord promised that this land would belong to his descendants (of whom at the moment there was no sign!). As soon as a famine strikes Canaan, he flees to Egypt where he gets into trouble (see Gen 12:10-20) Faithfulness to the vision, to the word of God, appeared transient and he had to learn.

So, just in case there might be any misunderstanding the word continues: “Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall.” (v.7b,8a) This is surely the truth. It only needs a few trials and tribulations to strike and we wither and fall. Now we may not like it and object to it, but if we do it simply means we have not been through a Job type of situation. The message of such situations is not condemnation, but just recreating an awareness that left to ourselves we are weak, and we need the Lord and His grace.

But that is not the end of it, it is just one side of it. The other side of this, the all-important side is, “but the word of our God endures forever.”  (v.8b) When God speaks He means it and He will ALWAYS do what He says, so if He says He is coming – He IS coming. If He deems it right to wait a while, so be it. Be patient, remain faithful and continue to believe. The contrast here in these verses is between our inability to remain faithful to the Lord, and the Lord’s cast-iron constancy that is seen in His faithfulness to His word, to His plans, to His declared will.  As the Lord described Himself to Moses, “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”  (Ex 34:6) See also Deut 7:9, 32:4, Psa 33:4.

That is what these three verses are about, about how we may truly believe all that the Lord says. We may not fully understand what He says, but when we do we will see that He is absolutely true to what He says, always!  Our faith may waiver in the face of passing time or in the face of trials, but He means what He says, and He will remain true to it (even if we misunderstand His timescale), and so He WILL do it. So, remember, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6) Hallelujah!

Application for further thought and prayer: Lord, I recognize my frailty and my constant need of your grace. Strengthen my faith, strengthen my resolve. Thank you that you are here for me.