Wait

Isaiah tells us that if we wait upon the Lord our strength will be renewed. Wait is really a word of action in this verse. Wait does not mean we can crawl back under our covers until God announces, “Everything is okay now. You can come out.”

No, it means we can wait (rely, trust) God to keep us as we put one foot in front of the other. It means we can rely on His strength when life seems to drain us of our strength. It means we have His promised hope when life seems to drain us of our hope.

A few years back, I broke my hip finding myself at the mercy of others. A broken hip causes one to indeed be thankful for caring, helpful people. Church friends brought meal after meal for my family. My husband bathed me in a child’s plastic pool using the extended hose from the kitchen faucet. In a sense you might say they gave of their strength to me.

Then one day the in-home therapist introduced me to my walker. That walker became my best friend. The enormous strength it allowed me was fantastic. Enough of total bed rest for me; I could now go outside and bond with nature. I came to rely on and trust that walker for my need to move about.

Just as that walker gave me strength, Jesus bring us strength when we wait (rely, trust) on Him. Don’t know about you but often in life I find myself sapped of all my strength. My human nature would like to crawl back under the covers on those days that just seem too hard to handle. But with God I can throw back the covers and take one step at a time as I rely on His strength to get me through the day.

Memory Verse:
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
– Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

Prayer Prompt:
“Lord, often we try to fix things in our strength and when it seems too hard to handle, we like to crawl back under the covers to hide. Help me to find my strength as I wait (rely – trust) upon You. Allow me to mount up on eagles’ wings and soar for You….”

Contributing Writer:
Linda Jurek