“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)
If this scripture doesn’t remind us of Jesus, I don’t know what will. All of mankind needed an intervention and thankfully, God sent His own son, by his own arm.
We know these truths and yet we all have moments of feeling completely alone, as if no one knows what we are going through. A situation may seem hopeless, and we may be at our lowest point emotionally, but God sees everything we are feeling, and that’s when He reaches out with His own arm to intervene in our situation.
Whether it’s a relationship problem, a serious medical condition, or a dire financial need, the psalmist tells us that when we cry to the Lord, He hears us from His holy mountain. God not only hears our cries, but He feels deeply for His people who are suffering, as today’s scripture tells us. Sometimes things appear hopeless, and our hope is hanging by a thread, but at the least expected moment, God steps in and intervenes for us.
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, where 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.
Many months ago, 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 that he would never recover, His parents could not bring themselves to stop the life support that was keeping him alive. The young man finally 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. When no one else could do anymore, God reached out with His own arm and brought a miraculous victory.
God restores a future against all odds and gives people a second chance for life, even after all others have given up hope. He steps in when we are at our lowest, and by His own arm, He raises us up.
I believe God wants us to believe that He is the Lord of all intervention, so that we will keep our hope in Him. Although I sometimes find it easier to believe for someone else’s miracle than for my own, His word tells us that weeping may last for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Somehow, we can always find enough hope within us, for the morning.
Yesterday I received a call that my son Jon, pulled his tracheostomy tube out of his own neck. That sounds serious but he is breathing room air just fine and his oxygen saturation levels are good, so they plugged up the hole in his neck and he is breathing without the need for a tube. That is one more step toward his healing and the possibility that he will be able to speak easier.
God is in tune with every one of our most desperate situations and just as He had a plan for Jacob, Hagar, and that young man in the coma, He has a plan for each one of us and our loved ones.
God hears our cries and He isn’t finished with us yet. He is still writing our stories and His thoughts are far above ours. We can trust that He will intervene for us with His strong arm, when no one else can.
Lord, we take the mustard seed of hope within us and place it in you, and we believe you will intervene in a miraculous way in every desperate situation we are facing today. Amen