Help for the Weak
Sometimes, in our fast-paced world, admitting vulnerability seems like admitting defeat. But if you've found yourself feeling weary, overwhelmed, or unsure of yourself, there's good news to cling to: “Our help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2 NIV)
For those in Christ, we’re not in this alone; God is our help. God’s Spirit is working in us and through us to accomplish His purposes—even when we don’t see it or feel it. He’s bringing things to mind, putting people along our path, and stirring up our hearts with that which matters to Him.
God’s Word says that His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and it’s actually in our weakness that He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).
So the pressure to do everything, have everything, and be everything is off. You have a Helper who meets you in your vulnerability and offers you strength in every moment. So, how can you begin to trust Him to help you when you are weak?
His Pain, Our Gain
Isaiah 53 is a stunning chapter in the Bible—in what is now commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.”
Approximately 700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah prophesied about a suffering servant who would also, somehow and in some way, be exalted. A coming Savior, a future Redeemer, the long-awaited Messiah—whose death would ultimately bring life.
A portion of Isaiah 53 says this:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
So, who was this man who would be pierced, crushed, and wounded because of someone else’s sins? Whose undeserved punishment would be the catalyst for healing? Whose life would be given as an offering—so that others might live?
Jesus Christ not only fits the description of the suffering servant who paid the ultimate price to buy His people back, redeem them, and set them free—He ...
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge...