“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.” ~ Isaiah 40:31
A friend emailed me this verse the other day and reminded me
of the renewal that happens in a "wait". I have always loved this verse, even when I
was a little girl. It's such a beautiful
picture and has some amazing deeper truths inside of it when we study
the eagle and the flight pattern of the eagle rising above. But what touched me the other day about this
verse was the latter part, "they shall run and not be weary, they shall
walk and not faint". Can you imagine running and not being weary. Walking and not being faint. Wow! Think on that promise for a bit.
Another translation reads: "But those who wait for the
Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew
their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like
eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will
walk and not grow tired."
How many of us are constantly on the run? Maybe we are raising a family and get up
early to pack lunches and whisk the kids out the door, stock Gatorade in our
cooler for the after school soccer game, have half hour between the game and
youth group to feed our babes so McDonald's drive-through becomes a routine. We drop off at youth group, pick up before bed, baths and then fall into bed
(everyone) exhausted, only to start that all over again the next day, and if you
have toddlers in the mix the diaper bag, baby food and naps snuggles are all
inter-twined. You would look at a verse
like Isaiah 40 and think "I dream of running and not being weary". But yet this is a promise (yes and amen)
inside of Jesus. This promise is attached to the condition of . . . .
"they who WAIT ON THE LORD".
Everyone has their own schedule in a day, some may look very different
and not even be able to relate to the above example, but we all know the
feeling of weariness.
I would suggest that in order to run and walk in a place of
renewed strength and vigor we must guard our time where we "wait on the
Lord". This may mean to set aside time for just you and Him (I call my time like that a quiet time) or it may mean that you are in a period of waiting. Waiting for promises fulfilled, waiting for breakthrough. Either way God has amazing promises for those who wait! I find that when I set aside intentional time
of being with the Lord, my entire being is renewed and often I accomplish more
than I ever could have, had I not taken that time to "wait". This morning, I had good intentions of being
up early to give Jesus all my attention.
I smacked the alarm clock when it went off at 5:00 am a few times and wished the next 5-10 minutes
would be like 5 hours more of sleep. Ha! God gets it! He was tempted like us, but He
invites us into a life that is full of renewed vigor, strength and free from
weariness when we wait on Him.
And just one more closing verse that I absolutely love
pertaining to waiting on the Lord. Being
in that place of waiting, trusting, abiding, yielding . . .
"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has
perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who
wait for him."
~ Isaiah 64:4
~ Isaiah 64:4
To sum up these two scriptures when we wait on the Lord:
1. The Lord renews our strength
2. Fly/soar above like an eagle
3. Run and not get weary
4. Walk and not grow faint
5. No one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen the action of God on our behalf
These are incredible promises attached to "the wait".
Video: Kristene DiMarco "He's in the Waiting"
https://youtu.be/r49V9QcYheQ