When I added several nights of interrupted sleep due to shouts of "Mama!" every other hour, plus days consumed with non-stop demands, abnormal physical labor, and several emotional conversations, it equalled absolute exhaustion. By 7:00 p.m. the other night, I ached from head to toe and started to fall asleep sitting straight up on the couch. I had a flashback of my Dad falling asleep in his chair years ago; mouth hanging wide open and full throttle snores that sounded like a southern thunderstorm. I slithered off the couch with a vague memory of toothpaste and pajamas, but darkness hit halfway down to the pillow. I slept undisturbed until the next morning.It's amazing the difference when our exhausted body receives the rest it desperately needs. Clarity of thought, better perspective, lighter emotions, and renewed energy are just a few of the positive changes that can come. This morning, the Lord reminded me of a verse I think I could actually recite in my sleep.
"But those who wait on 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." Isa.40:31
By "waiting" on the Lord...one simple, decisive action...the Lord has said that His people will have:
- Renewed strength. Are you feeling weak today? If it be physical, God will never ask us to do more than we are physically able to. He is the same Lord referred to in verse 11 of this chapter-a Good Shepherd that carries "lambs" and gently leads those with little ones. He's understanding and leads at a pace we are able to follow. Verse 29 promises "HE gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, He increases strength." Are you going through a trial today and need emotional strength? Whatever area of life we feel weak in, He longs to show Himself strong on your behalf (2 Cor.12:10, 2 Chron.16:9)
- Mounting up or soaring like an eagle. This is a study in itself. Do you need a better perspective on your life? Do you desire to be able to soar above the storm clouds like an eagle does?
- Running without weariness. Is this not the pace of life for many today? While I often think being younger would be the solution to my exhaustion at times, Verse 30, reminds me "Even the youths shall faint and be weary," This weariness is a particular word that comes from the type of fatigue from hard work or continual labor. When we give out, whether over and over repeatedly or with great effort, the result is this type of weariness. Even the most "fit" people have a limit. Whether we are talking emotionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually, etc. As life in the Bible has been likened to a race, running it without weariness reflects an endurance that is supernatural.
- Walking without fainting. The word faint is slightly different than weary, but it is a type of fatigue. In one area of scripture, it is "grief." Before I had reached verse 31, I had read verse 26 repeatedly:
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these [things], that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in power; not one faileth.It's the greatness of God's might, strong in power, that not one of those individually created and named stars and planets, fail or is missing (NKJV). Each one of those inanimate creations of God has His attention, a unique glory (1 Cor 15:41) and is kept by His great power. The reality of that thought helped me this morning. I hope it helps you too.
Anyone else wanna join the Lord's waiting room? We never leave the same...
