“The Lord saw this, and was aggrieved that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one,
was appalled that there was none to intervene; Then his own arm brought about the victory, and his justice sustained him.”
Isaiah 59:15-16 (NAB)
Sometimes it feels like we are completely alone, that no one intervenes for us as much as we would hope for. The truth is that when a situation seems hopeless, and we are feeling at our lowest point emotionally, God sees everything we are suffering, and He reaches out with His own arm to intervene in our situation. Whether it’s a relationship problem, a serious medical prognosis, or a dire financial need, the psalmist tells us that when we cry to the Lord, He hears us from His holy mountain. So many examples in scripture have shown us that God intervenes for people when all appears hopeless, and hope is hanging by a thread. When Jacob thought he might not have a future, and his twin brother was hunting him down to kill Him, he dreamed of a ladder to heaven while God said to him “I am with you and will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.” After that, Jacob miraculously made peace with his brother and the crisis was averted. Another example is Hagar, the maidservant who Sarah mistreated and then cruelly threw out of her house, along with her young son, Ishmael. Having no where to go, Hagar roamed through the wilderness with Ishmael. Her water supply quickly ran out, and she lost all hope, expecting that she and her son would die of thirst right where they laid. Then an angel appeared to Hagar and directed her to a well of water and they both drank. The angel revealed God’s plans for Ishmael, saying “Get up, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation.” When Hagar was at her lowest point, God intervened and blessed her with the promise of hope and a future for both her and her son. As I was preparing this message, a friend told me a true story about a young man she knew, who was given a tainted drug at a music concert, resulting in a long hospitalization, and he eventually ended up on life support. Although doctors indicated he would never recover, His parents would not agree to stop the life support that was keeping him alive. The young man recently woke up out of his coma, miraculously intact, with no mental or physical deficits at all. There is no explanation for this miracle except that God intervened, and when no one else could do anymore, God reached out His own arm and brought a miraculous victory. He restored the future of a man against all odds and gave him his life back, just as He did for Jacob and Hagar. God steps in when we are at our lowest and He raises us up. I believe God wants us to believe that He is the Lord of all intervention, and to keep our hope in Him. His word tells us weeping may last for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. God is in tune to every desperate situation and just as He had a plan for Jacob, for Hagar, and for Ishmael, He also had a plan to complete for that young man in the coma. God loves us, He hears our cry and He isn’t finished with us yet. He will intervene for us when no one else can.
Lord, we thank and praise you for the great love and compassion you have already shown to so many others. We believe in you and place our hope in your plan for us, as you reach down your arm to intervene in our own desperate situation, that we bring before you today. Amen