I am he who will sustain you. Isaiah 46:4
After an unsuccessful surgery, Joan’s doctor said she’d need to undergo another operation in five weeks. As time passed, anxiety built. Joan and her husband were senior citizens, and their family lived far away. They’d need to drive to an unfamiliar city and navigate a complex hospital system, and they’d be working with a new specialist.
Although these circumstances seemed overwhelming, God took care of them. During the trip, their car’s navigation system broke down, but they arrived on time because they had a paper map. God supplied wisdom. At the hospital, a Christian pastor prayed with them and offered to help later that day. God provided support. After the operation, Joan received good news of a successful surgery.
While we won’t always experience healing or rescue, God is faithful and always close to vulnerable people—whether young, old, or otherwise disadvantaged. Centuries ago, when captivity in Babylon had weakened the Israelites, Isaiah reminded them that God had upheld them from birth and would continue to care for them. Through the prophet, God said, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you” (Isaiah 46:4).
God will not abandon us when we need Him the most. He can supply our needs and remind us He’s with us at every point in our lives. He’s the God of all our days.
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
5 “With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
6 Some pour out gold from their bags
and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god,
and they bow down and worship it.
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;
they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
From that spot it cannot move.
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;
it cannot save them from their troubles.
INSIGHT
- How has God sustained you during times of weakness?
- How might He want to work through you to support others?
Isaiah’s book of prophecy easily divides into two parts: chapters 1–39 and 40–66. Some theologians and scholars see these two sections as written by two different people, normally attributing the first half to the historical prophet Isaiah, while asserting that the second half was added later by someone else some two hundred years later. The traditional view, however, declares Isaiah to have been the author of the entire book, but at two different times. The first half is believed to have been written some fifteen or so years before the second half. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says: “In chapters 1–39 judgment on sin is stressed; in chapters 40–66 atonement for that sin and the resulting change in people and the world system are discussed. Judgment, then, must come before blessing can follow.” Throughout the book, however, there’s a major emphasis on the promised Messiah and what His role would be.
PRAYER
Dear God, You’re trustworthy and kind. Help me to lean on You as I experience uncertainty. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: ISAIAH 46:4-7 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: PSALMS 79-80; ROMANS 11:1-18
