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Illustration

The man told his doctor that he wasn’t able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was complete, he said, "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me."

"Well, in plain English," the doctor replied, "you’re just lazy."

"Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."

Isaiah 54 is part of the Book of Isaiah, written during the final years of the Babylonian exile. The chapter is a message of comfort and hope for the Hebrew nation, who had suffered the loss of many children and were in exile in Babylon:

Israel at this time was at a very low point in their history. They had gone through a succession of wicked rulers who had led them astray from God. The Kingdom had been divided and weakened. First the northern, and then the southern kingdom had fallen to their enemies. The land had been laid waste, the walls torn down. Even the temple of God where they worshipped had been ransacked and destroyed by their enemies.

Most of them had been taken captive to Babylon. Only a remnant of the people remained faithful to God, refusing to worship idols. But when they looked around, everything was gone. Their temple, their city, their nation, and their people, now held captive throughout the enemy lands.

Isaiah the prophet brought the Word of God to the people: Isa 54:1 "Sing... burst into song, shout for joy..."

Psalm 137 gave us an idea of their mood

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars

we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD

while in a foreign land?

Isaiah 54:2-3

New International Version

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,

stretch your tent curtains wide,

do not hold back;

lengthen your cords,

strengthen your stakes.

3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your descendants will dispossess nations

and settle in their desolate cities.

I. Enlarge Your Capacity for God

• God wants to do a bigger work in your life.

• God has a bigger purpose.

But for that to take place you must enlarge your capacity for God. The number one purpose God had in creating us was for us to know God in an intimate relationship. And the second reason God created us was to make himself known through us.

1 Chronicles 4:10:

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. In the book, "The Prayer of Jabez". This is Jabez’s prayer, "Bless me and expand my territory."

II. Stretch Your Commitment

Stretching has the tendency to cause pain.

When you stretch you are working a certain set of muscles. So in order for us to stretch ourselves to what God asks us to become, it’s going to require some pain on our part both as a church and personally as well.

III. Expand Your Influence

How big is your tent?

In this verse Isaiah says you need to spread out to the right and the left. You need to make your mark on a land that does not yet know who you are.

In other words you need to expand your power.

God wants you to use your influence in a positive way. I think you may not realize how much your influence effects other people.

Illustration

A mother took her young son shopping. After a day in the stores, a clerk handed the little boy a lollipop. "What do you say?" the mother said to the boy, to which he replied, "Charge it!"

The truth is. We reap what we sow. your return will only be as great as your investment.

1. When you enlarge your capacity for God by stretching your investment of faith,

2. God will expand your influence.

Pick up the paper, and send a card to the families who have babies in our area, Send a card to families who have lost a loved one. Encourage a child to go to camp. Take a plate of cookies to your neighbor, Go meet lonely strangers in the hospital. There are any number of things that could be done. Enlarge your circle of influence. Someone has said that no one cares how much you know till they know how much you care.