But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
To the human mind, God’s wisdom is not fully comprehensible in how He chooses to fulfill His promises to deliver Israel. Wait upon the Lord—There is a general principle here that patient, praying believers are blessed by God with strength, His strength in their trials. We can through prayer, as simplified as just admitting, “Lord, I can’t. But You can, lead me and direct me in the way I should go.” It is all of a matter of our heart. God’s Word reveals truth. Truth about Himself, and truth about ourselves. If I take the Scriptures to heart, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) How beautiful that is that our great God who created the universe will strength me and help me in my weakness. The psalmist wrote: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. (Psalm 147:3-6) God doesn’t expend any more energy in healing a brokenhearted man, than He does in counting the stars in the sky.
Shall renew their strength—The prophet Isaiah’s promise to the people of ancient Israel still holds true for us today. The Hebrew word for “renew” means to substitute, to exchange, to show newness, to sprout. But the kind of waiting that renews strength is active, not passive. It is a deliberate exchange of human effort for divine strength. We are not expected to dig deep and tap into an unknown reserve of our own willpower and determination. Instead, we are to ask God to give us His energy—supply His strength. And when we ask, we ask Him in faith. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Without faith this text is telling us, it is impossible to walk with God (as Enoch did) or please Him. The emphasis here is on “He is” the true God, and that genuine faith does not simply believe that a Divine being exists, but that the God of the Scriptures, the Word of God, is the only real truth and only real and true God. Not believing that God exists is equivalent to calling Him a liar (1 John 5:10). A person must believe not only that the One true God exists, but also that He will reward man’s faith in Him with forgiveness of their sins, and God’s righteousness which is found in Jesus Christ. Who became sin for us, and paid the penalty for our sins, which was death. Even death of the cross (Romans 5:10). And finally, Because God said it would be this way, Is to believe in His promise towards us.
They shall mount up as wings on eagles—In the Book of Exodus, While Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped there: And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6) With a most appropriate metaphor, God described the Exodus and the journey to Sinai. Eagles are known to have carried their young out of the nests on their wings and taught them to fly, catching them when necessary on their outspread wings. Moses, in his final song, employed this metaphor of God’s care for Israel and especially noted that there was only One Lord who did this. God’s loving care is today in the finished work of Jesus Christ, who hung on the cross, was buried, and on third day, rose from the dead. By His resurrection and the empowering of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer, we can find our strength to endure and walk with peace from God, as New Testament believer’s who are of His kingdom and are priests of our homes (1Peter 2:9-10).
Beloved friend, As we seek to spend time with God, who better to look at as our example than Jesus? During His life on earth, we read that Jesus limited the exercise of His divine powers. Although fully God, He depended on the Father and the indwelling Holy Spirit working through Him. That dependence was demonstrated by the way Jesus sought time alone with His Father. The Gospels record multiple times when Jesus left the crowds and His followers behind for solitary communion with the Father. Jesus used His alone with God His Father for meaningful fellowship as well as for renewed strength and direction to carry on with His mission “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Meeting only those needs directly in front of Him would have been to ignore God’s concern for all who are lost. If time alone with God is seen as a once a day merely something to be checked off a “things to do list” we need to be careful of not separating our spiritual life with the rest of our life. Time with God is our spiritual lifeline. Waiting upon Him is reality on a daily basis, yet our faith is strengthened by this. From the Garden of Eden until now, God has desired to walk with His people in every part of life’s journey. We have need of endurance to be sure, but that very need is fulfilled by the virtue of God’s promised Word, of renewed strength for now, and an eternal and heavenly rest in Jesus Christ, secured for us in the heavens so our perseverance is guaranteed. Even unto the end of the age.
May the Lord bless your walk with Him!
