Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Listen to the Word

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)

Isaiah declares that the key to renewing your strength is to hope in the LORD. If you have no hope, you will continue to have no strength. If you are hopeless, you will still be tired and weary. If you look to the future with absolute dread, if thinking about tomorrow puts a knot in your stomach, then you are not in the position to claim God’s gift of strength.

Some translations render Isaiah’s instruction as “wait on the LORD.” The Hebrew word can mean either “hope” or “wait.” But it is a special kind of waiting. It is not the kind of waiting you do in the doctor’s office, but more like waiting for Christmas. It means anticipating, leaning forward, anxious to see what God will do. Hopeful waiting on the LORD increases our strength.

Live the Word

Ask God to help you lean expectantly into the rest of this day, waiting with anticipation instead of dread.