Gentle strength

"He tends... He gathers... He gently leads"

Isaiah 40:11

As I've probably mentioned before, I'm fascinated by the duality of God.  The way His characteristics seem  to defy one another.  It's just so hard for us to fathom who He is, much less how He is who He is.

This chapter of Isaiah is a good example.  I love this chapter for its ending, which might be my favorite verse in all of Scripture:

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I love this verse because there is so much grandeur to it.  It speaks of waiting, hoping in the Lord, which I think is important because so much of life seems to be about waiting.  And I love the imagery of an eagle soaring, and the promise of strength in times of weakness ~ the gift of hoping in Him.

So when I sat down to read chapter 40 today, I knew what was coming.  It's a soaring chapter the whole way through, with verses like "The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them..."  and "See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power..."

Then the chapter goes into this amazing discourse:  "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens?  Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?  Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed Him as His counselor?...  


Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth... He stretches out the heavens like a canopy... 


'To whom will you compare Me?  Or who is My equal?' says the Holy One.  Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:  Who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.  Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing...


Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom."

And yet, in the middle of all that power and strength and majesty and dominion is this:  verse 11 ~ "He tends His flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young."

Can you reconcile this in your mind?  In my mind I see a warrior, armor on, weapon drawn, and yet a lamb cradled in his arms.  Or, wait, I just thought of this picture I once saw:

Isn't that a great picture?  I just love how it speaks of strength, and tenderness.

Are you calling on His power, and resting in His gentleness?  If you pictured Jesus sitting down next to you on the sofa this evening, would you picture powerful and awesome, or would you picture caring and comforting?  Because He is both.  He's whatever you need, all the time, and He's whatever you don't need, all the time, too.