Have you ever got engrossed in a western movie? You know, the ones with the cowboys on horses? Inevitably, there is a scene at the saloon where the bad guy challenges someone to a gunfight. The poor guy is shaking in his boots until the hero rides in and intervenes. Have you ever felt like that guy shaking in your boots? If so, don’t worry. There is someone who can save you.
Isaiah 35:3-4
Strengthen the weak hands, steady the shaking knees! Say to the cowardly: “Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming. God’s retribution is coming; he will save you.”
One Big Giant
Isaiah is writing this as Assyria is threatening Israel. No one, even the mighty Egyptians, has been able to stop this behemoth. Now they are mocking the God of Israel, and it’s making Israel weak in the hands and shaking at the knees. Isaiah has to come and remind them of the God they serve. He encourages them to find their strength in the Lord and that His vengeance is coming. He was the only one who could save, and He was going to do that exactly that.
Shaking in Your Boots
Sometimes we need to be reminded to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We can get weak in the hands and shaking in the knees. Both of those give us a picture of not wanting to go on anymore. When our hands get weak, it shows that we’ve lost our strength and shaky knees mean that we are not confident going forward. When we find ourselves there, we know that we are relying on our strength and not on Jesus.
The Victory is Yours
God’s got your back. He is not going to let you dangle out there by yourself, and your enemy might get a temporary victory, in the end, God is going overcome, and you will be victorious. Trust in the Lord and believe that He has your best interests in mind. You may be shaking in your boots, but He isn’t worried a bit. Assyria was mocking God and Israel, but God sent an Angel and in one night wiped out 185,000 Assyrian troops.