Isa 35:3-4--Strengthen ye the
weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a
fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even with a recompense, he will come and save you. What a
beautiful promise. In this verses we are told not to strengthen our hands
or our weak and feeble knees, but the hands and the knees regardless of
whose they are. In other words we are not to concentrate on our own
weaknesses but to help strengthen others in their own weaknesses. One of
the surest way to encourage ourselves is to give encouragement to others.
In verse 4 Isaiah is saying don't
give up now. Hang on. Help is on the way. God is coming and if you will
look to that you will get encouragement.
And make straight paths for your
feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather
be healed. To prevent falling short of God's grace we need to make
straight paths for our feet. Make straight paths for your feet refers to
staying in your own lane in the race. When you get out of the race you not
only disqualify yourself but often interfere with other runner. A runner
never intentionally gets out of his lane, He only does so when he is
distracted or careless, when he loses his concentration on the goal or
when fatigue robs him of his will to win.
Pro 5:25-27-- Let thine eyes look
right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path
of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right
hand nor to the left, remove thy feet from evil. It says turn not to the
right hand nor to the left....When we set out in the race of faith we
should look directly ahead, that will keep us from being distracted and
will prevent us from getting off the lane. Nothing should cause us to
waiver or change course...if we do, we will not only stumble ourselves but
cause others to stumble also.
Make straight paths refers also to
the tracks left by wheels or a cart or a chariot. When we run, we leave a
track behind us which will either lead or mislead others. That is why we
should be extra careful that the tracks we leave are straight and the only
way we will leave a straight track is to live a right and holy
life...running a straight course.
Lest that which is lame be turned
out of the way...We can apply this to those limping brothers and sisters
who are in recovery situation, those who have fallen and are now back to
the track. The weak are easily tripped or misled. We need to be careful in
setting our own example because we look to one another for encouragement.
There are some qualities in our personalities in which other admires, like
the way we talk etc. and so in their mind we have built a kind of
character and in their mind we should act to a certain situation depending
on that kind of character. And if we acted contrary to the character, then
it weakens them. Paul says all thing are lawful....we are free to do what
is right but most of the time we control that right for the sake of
others. In Rom 14 we have the issue of eating food that are offered to
idols. In Gal 2 we have also the incident where Peter ate with the
Gentiles then separated himself...Some was carried away by Peter's action.
You see, we affect each other so much. Our poor example will hurt those
who are weak. Our bad example can tilt a person away, it can cause an
already limping brother or sister to be dislocated spiritually. God wants
those who are lame spiritually to be healed completely.