Waiting for the Lord
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START WITH HEART
Lord, as You speak please help me listen with my whole heart and Holy Spirit please meet me today and make me more like Jesus.
Isaiah 40: 28-31
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 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.
Believing who God is is essential to knowing how to deal with the circumstances around us and the imperfect in us. We are to believe that God is everlasting (the beginning and the end, the great I Am) and that He is “the Creator of the ends of the earth” (that He created the land and the water and everything that exists in them and, at the same time, He is involved in every little detail of His creation). “(God) does not faint or grow weary” (He does not get tired, He doesn’t get tired of us, He doesn’t get tired of hearing our pleas, He doesn’t get tired of our neediness, He doesn’t get tired of our lives) and “His understanding is unsearchable” (God understands absolutely everything, He knows exactly what is going on and what you are going through).
When we know, and are convinced of who He is and that He is who He says He is, He then tells us what He does in us, and because He is who He says He is, then I can expect Him to give “power to the faint, and to (her) who has no might He will increase strength”. This is a promise, something we can expect from God, our Father, the Creator of the ends of the earth. But there’s an expectation that God puts on us to be able to receive this power and increased strength.
God understands that “even youths shall faint and be weary, and young (women) shall fall exhausted.” I like this. If you see young people, they are ready to get things done – not only ready, they are prepared to jump the gun, to get the job done themselves. I see here that it’s not just talking about the “physically” young but those who are always doing everything in their own strength. If you are able to do it in your own strength, you do, even if you’re not able, you try anyway. In this scripture its shows that everyone who tries to accomplish something in their own strength will faint and be weary, they shall faint and be exhausted.
“…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.” If we wait for the Lord, if we trust His plans and His ways, remembering we need to know Him and trust that He is who He says He is… when we do this, and we wait for Him, He will renew our strength. Eagles are amazing birds who conserve their energy, they just have to get into the air thermals, they glide on these, not having to do a huge amount of work of their own. They can travel vast distances by opening their wings and relying on the thermals to carry them. God wants us to be like this, to wait for Him and rely on Him to carry us through whatever we are facing.
This is a promise that we will not burn out if we wait on the Lord. Yes, we get physically and emotionally tired, but emotionally, spiritually and mentally, we don’t have to ever be at a place where we are burnt out. As we trust the Lord and wait for Him, He renews our strength every day, so we are able to walk, dare I say it, even run.
How do we do this? “Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG). This is easier said than done, but it can be done. As I have let go of trying to figure everything out on my own, and as I have trusted God from the very bottom of my heart, I have felt God’s renewed strength in my heart and my spirit.
Have my circumstances changed? No. Have the pressures on my life changed? No. But because I’ve waited for Him, it’s His timing I’m trusting for and it hasn’t become what I can do to make things happen, I have placed myself in His hands. Do I get tired? Yes, but I don’t fall down exhausted and I do not faint, I don’t burn out because He is faithful to His promise. I run and I’m not weary, I walk and do not faint. It is possible to trust in the Lord and not lean on our own thinking.
Have you failed if you are burnt out? Have you failed if you are weary and feel faint? NO, today you can wait for the Lord. Let’s determine today in our hearts to start to practice waiting for the Lord.
JOURNALING QUESTIONS:
- Do I really believe that God is who He says He is? If not, try asking yourself why not, and asking the Lord to help you start trusting what He says about Himself.
- In what areas of my life do I need to wait for the Lord? Where am I running ahead of Him and trying to do things in my own strength?
- Do I share my life with someone who can remind me to wait for the Lord before I’m weary and faint?
Thank You Lord that You know what is good for me, please help me to rely on You more. I put my circumstances in Your hands, I wait for You to speak and direct me. I choose to wait for You and expect You to renew my strength.
WORSHIP SONG:
Breathing Room, by Kim Walker-Smith (Album “Wild Heart”)
by Taryn Herbert
