Megan Evans, Women’s Ministry Director, LHBC

Isaiah 40:30-31 (ESV)
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
31but 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.

Do you need a fresh dose of strength today?  There are days when we find ourselves running on empty.  As we have found ourselves isolated during this pandemic, days have melted into weeks leaving many of us weary at times.  No one is impervious to exhaustion and Isaiah 40 reminds us that even the youth fall and faint at times. But there is hope!  There is new strength today for those who seek the Lord. 

I could use renewed strength today, how about you?  Wouldn’t it be great if a fresh batch of strength could arrive like an amazon package at our door?  If only we could slice through the tape on that smiling brown box and mount up with wings like eagles!  That’s the mentality of much of our world today—we want an unengaged quick fix.  

Rather than growing and maturing through the process of strength, we so often just want problems to go away.  Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that renewed strength comes from God alone.  Believers, our strength was never lost, even though our human bodies and minds are physically feeling weary!  We shall walk and run once again in the sustainable strength of the Lord today.

Where is your physical, mental, or emotional strength waning today? Is your house overrun with the noise of restless children?  Maybe you live alone and find the days too quiet. Is your job suffering? Perhaps you have had to work even longer hours to meet demands.  This period of isolation has touched the lives of the young and old. Even now many of our 2020 high school seniors anxiously await hopes of graduation ceremonies.  Isolation has affected all of our lives in one way or another, and it is easy for our human bodies and minds to feel weary when so much of life has been disrupted and has had to be put on hold.  

Isaiah 40:28 reminds us that God never grows weak or weary.  He never tires of us, and we can’t begin to fathom His understanding.  By His incomparable strength and power He knows even the stars by name (Isaiah 40:26). When we are weak, the Lord empowers us to soar like eagles!  Eagles soar not by tirelessly flapping their own wings, but by gliding on thermal lifts of air. Believers, God is our thermal lift! Will you engage in the process of strength today? We too can mount up with wings that soar by seeking the Lord, by praying and reading God’s Word.  Read Isaiah 40 in its entirety and marvel at God’s majesty and the works of His great power. Call upon the Lord today and rise above today’s challenges with His renewed strength!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, I call out to you today for strength.  I pray Your power over my areas of weakness today. I cannot rise above today’s challenge without you Jesus. Forgive me for trying to renew my own strength, or for surrendering to hopelessness.  Lift my weary body to soar in Your strength today. In Jesus Name, Amen. 

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.