Isaiah 40 vs 12-31

Isaiah Chapter 40 Verses 12 – 17

·    These verses certainly do speak to the immeasurable grandeur and capacity and enormity of God, that He is somehow so extensive that He holds all of the waters of the world in the span of His hand. 326 million trillion gallons (that’s 326 with 18 zeros)! And he has measured space? Calculated the dust of the earth? AND these verses speak about His authority!

·    No one counsels Him. No one can teach God anything! Just consider that for a moment! And this is the God that gave us His Word!? We have no idea the power of this gift. If we did, we’d so readily trust it and non-negotiably set our life goal to know it and apply it!

·    I love how we are given by Isaiah the nations as a whole! To God there is one people, one race, one creation. We’ve abused the fact that we have diversity…to the point that if we talk about each other’s differences, something we should do, we should celebrate those differences and leverage those differences, but if we do that we are way out of bounds in our culture. Totally not what God intended by making one race with true and incredible differences!

·    Diversity is amazing! Designed by God and given to us by God for all sorts of blessings and benefits. But just like with almost everything given to this world by God, we have a way of crucifying it. A quote taken from a talk given at Life Pacific University in California, “The phrase “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” elicits vastly different responses from different people. Liberals tend to view DEI as a crucial component of any institution truly committed to “social justice” – there’s another buzzword. Conservatives tend to view DEI as empty virtue-signaling at best and a wholly corrupted enterprise at worst.” We have a real problem here. That is vastly different.

·    So, what’s the issue? On its own, I would say the way we would Biblically define and derive the term DEI, it’s all good. Jesus died for the sins of the world, all included and invited and equal. God created man, all man, in His own image. And to each, according to 1 Corinthians 12, He has given a diversity of gifts.

·    1 Corinthians 12:4-11 says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

·    So, what’s the issue? The issue culturally, professionally, socially and spiritually is that most DEI programs and champions and narratives are not rooted in Biblical definition but in what is called “critical theory.” Critical theory is understandable. We as Christians, lovers of people and lovers of what is good, should tread into this very culturally explosive topic with compassion, patience and kindness. Critical theory essentially does not view the world through a lens of purely cause and effect (things are the way they are because of what is physically happened or happening). Critical theory views reality through the lens of power and powers, dividing people groups wholesale into oppressed groups and oppressor groups. Essentially, wherever the power is, that is the oppressor.

·    The dividers assigned in critical theory include race, class, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability and age. While critical theory has been around since the 30s, something happened specifically in the media around 2014. Words like “racism, privilege, whiteness, intersectionality” exploded in their usage. (Reference ppt)

·    So, what are we to do? First and foremost, we need to pray to prepare and we need to submit ourselves to the heart of God! We cannot suspend the love of God in order to activate the righteous anger of God…

·    Then…, we out to try to be educated. Know what these terms mean to different people and even if you don’t agree with the perspective and ideology, try to understand the “other” perspective. We need to have compassion, understanding, kindness and maturity. Essentially, we need to operate in and out of love. And…

·    Deescalate. The enemy just wants to cause strife, arguments, fights and ultimately wars. Practice active listening. Listen before and far more than stating your position. And then rephrase their statements in your own words in a way they’d understand and even affirm. Speak to them the way you want to be spoken to…

·    Then, think through and look for solutions, real solutions, that will answer the concerns and pain of the other side. Look for compromise and realize that the pain/frustration folks feel matters and also that what they are saying, although may be skewed away from a Biblical perspective and that’s where it indeed is in error, it’s their lens… They’re not stupid, they’re not unintelligent, they’re not an idiot, what they are is someone who sees the world very differently than you. Listen to understand and look for compromise. Love them and bring them to Christ. Or, in your corporate environment, bring Christ to them through how you love them, and how you are skilled to deescalate without compromising truth.

·    Biblically, here in Isiaah 40, essentially all of this, all nations, our way of life, this life, counted as the small dust on the scales of eternity. What’s that mean? So much… We should live for what will remain. St. Jerome once said, “Seek to learn on earth those truths which will remain ever valid in heaven!”

·    And, it means that all we seek and strive to establish in one breath can be blown away by God. And the breath of God according to 2 Tim 3:16 is the Word of God…, and if the breath of God is the Word of God, then according to Genesis 2:7, the Word of God is life itself!

Isaiah Chapter 40 Verses 18 – 23

·    Any judgment based upon worldly principles is in the Hebrew here, “unreality!” What a statement!!

Isaiah Chapter 40 Verses 24 – 28

·    Do you know what that means? That means as God works and guides and shows you things and teaches you over your days, circumstances and years…as you seek Him…you get it and it blows you away and then later in life you get more from the same lesson and that continues and compounds throughout your life!

Isaiah Chapter 40 Verses 29 – 31

·    So, there’s the key. The key to seeing and glimpsing all of this and even walking with the Lord. The key to renewal and revival in a life. To wait on the Lord. In the Hebrew that phrase literally means, “to collect, to bind together, to gather with intent, and then to expect!” Waiting on the Lord in summary is simply to trust His Word and not necessarily wait for things to work out but trust that He has already worked them out.