Thoughts for the Day

To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless...
and those who wait for 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.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

In many Victorian novels the poor beleaguered mistress of the house who's had enough of bearing children takes to her chaise-longue at the first sign of stress, and elegantly passes out, only to be woken rather briskly by her maid with sal volatile. This smelling salt is made up of ammonium carbonate mixed in water and has a quite horrible smell, so pity the poor woman.

The prophet Isaiah has a better idea for those who feel weak, whether that is mentally or physically. In these beautiful words above he gently lectures us all to remember that we don't need the equivalent of smelling salts when life goes wrong. He looks at the attributes of God. In the first part of Chapter 40 he reminds us, among other things, that God alone is God, there is no other; that God keeps promises; that He is the God of wisdom who instructs and enlightens people; and that He is the King of kings.

Do we not know, he says, do we not realise, that the God who created our world, and who can 'weigh the mountains in scales', and who 'stretches out the heavens like a curtain', this God can revive us when we feel scared, or overwhelmed with pain, or confused by the things of this life. God who is merciful can restore and renew us once more.

Whatever our understanding of creation, as Christians we understand that God is all powerful and there is absolutely nothing that He cannot do. Try asking constantly, and if the answer is not what you want, ask what God wants you or others to learn this Advent.

Almighty God,
Who rescues the fallen,
Who retrieves the lost,
Who sits with the prisoner,
Who guides the blind,
Who heals the sick,
Who comforts the mourner,
and Who suffers with the dying,
hear our prayer for all who need
Your help this day.
Amen.