Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:31)What an amazingly powerful, hopeful and encouraging collection of words and sentiments....from the very heart of God!
Recent in-depth surveys of the beliefs of many people of different ages reveal stunning news, which should shock and dismay any right thinking person. It should also make any Christian cringe. The sheer volume of “Nones” (those who believe in nothing or have no faith system) is increasing by leaps and bounds. It is no more so than in Millennials, who learned their “believe-in-nothing-and-everything” from the Generation X-ers, who got their selfishness and “all about me” attitudes from one of the worse generations ever: we Baby Boomers. To be fair, the Baby Boomers came by it honestly. These were children of the so-called “Greatest Generation” who not only survived the Great Depression but won World War II and created the greatest and most prosperous nation in the world.
Therein lies the problem. The adversity of the 1930’s and 1940’s built perseverance and character. The prosperity of the victorious post-World War II boom led to a level of spiritual depravity and moral chaos which will only get worse, with each passing generation. All we need to do is look at the parallel universes of the brave military of the 1960’s and 1970’s against the sex and drug sub-culture, of that same era.
When you combine a western society of practical atheists, where God and His Laws have become ritual for one hour a week (for a declining minority of churchgoers), and a Christian church which does not follow the Compass of Christ, we have hopelessness. We see the fruits of a people with no hope in the increased use of Opioids and the resulting vortex downloads into hades. Suicide among young people has gone through the roof. Social media has coarsened relationships and true fellowship by the share nature of its into hades. Suicide among young people has gone through the roof. Social media has coarsened relationships and true fellowship by the share nature of its free-flowing accessibility and “anonymity”. With Christianity, the Bible and any mention of Jesus kept out of public schools and out of most of the public square in the west, it is no wonder people have no fixed point of reference on which to base their self-worth and eternal future.
Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Still, amidst all of this, comes one of the most famous and inspiring Bible verses of all time (Isaiah 40:31). But God, He gives us a reason why He can be counted on to make such as statement we find in verse 31. Here is what He says:
Verse 28: Because He is the Everlasting - meaning He has been there from Time past, to now to Eternity and was never created but did the creating Himself, He knows all and sees all. He never gets tired or grows weary in all these six thousands years of Creation and attending to the needs and souls of billions of people in all those years. Not just that, but God knows every single detail about us- our thoughts, our hopes, plans, dreams and fears. Because of this incomprehensible superior knowledge of His Creation, His "inscrutable understanding" leads Him to do what is best for each of us, if we would just trust and listen for and obey His direction.
Verse 29a: He does give strength to the weary in our rest - physical and spiritual. We all need food, sleep, exercise and relaxation so we can perform the work which the Lord has given our hands to do. Emotional rest comes when are our hearts are at peace and full of grace and love in the Lord. This encompasses those around us in our families, friends and community. If done right, Emotional well-being leads to this community focusing on the Word of God, its study and application to transform us into the Image of Christ.
Verses 29b-30: There is a barrel of Truth to the statement that God gives power to those who lack. John 1:12 says "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name". That same power is translated from the original Greek in John 1:12 as "dunamis" where we get the word "dynamite" from. Think of the explosive nature of dynamite and this is how God empowers the weak - if we ONLY TRUST IN HIM!
From there, the Lord, through His Holy Word now goes on to say that ANYONE - from young to old, who wait for Him....will then receive the promise of Isaiah 40:31. This "wait for the Lord" or as the King James Versions says so beautifully "they that wait upon the Lord" is crucial. It is an active present tense exhortation as in "those who are actively waiting until they hear from Me or get a clear direction" will.....
So the key is this, for the benefit of you and I - do not get in front or ahead of God, in our haste to make things better for us, because as humans, we are guaranteed to mess it up. But, just a little while longer and we "....will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary!"
Is there anything more amazing than this truth?! God is good - all the time!
