When challenges come, and life becomes difficult, or we get bad news or become ill; our strength begins to fail. The Bible tells us that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Being strong doesn’t mean you never get weak. It means exchanging our weakness for God’s strength. Sometimes we want to run away from situations that make us feel weak, or we want to avoid circumstances that might exhaust us. But enduring and trusting in God during hardships increases our strength.
Isaiah 40:28-31 says – “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in and wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.”
Much of the book of Isaiah is a prophecy about the consequences the Kingdom of Judah would experience when turning away from the Lord. As we read chapter 40, we notice a move from the consequences of the Israelites’ unfaithfulness to God, to a focus on God’s faithfulness to His people where God speaks mercy and loving grace towards His people. God is eternally steady and faithful. We are not. God is the creator of the entire world. We are the created. God never grows faint or weary. Even when we have restrictions; He has no limits.
Do you feel faint or tired today, wondering where you might find strength? The first step that we need to take to renew our strength in God is to ADMIT that we are weak. Paul knew what it was like to be exhausted and weak, yet in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, he wrote – “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
It’s when we admit our weakness, that we are in the best position to receive God’s strength. To receive God’s strength, we need to be connected to Him, like a light bulb is connected to electricity to shine. In John 15:4, Jesus says: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4 ESV)
When we seek strength from ourselves, it will decrease or end. When we seek power from the world, it will be taken away. But when we seek power from God, (who gives power to the weak) we have a source of strength that will never fail or fade.
We can always come to Jesus when empty and leave fully charged with the sweet presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Connecting to God as our source is essential because there is opposition in the spiritual realm and many don’t even realize it. Read how Paul connects our strength to spiritual warfare – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12 ESV)
This leads us to the next step on how to renew our strength. We need to wait on the Lord. Once we are connected to God, we must abide and stay with Him to receive HIS strength. Many of us are weak Christians because we do not exercise the spiritual fruit of patience. We fail to persevere in prayers and patient waiting on our Lord.
Waiting on God doesn’t mean we sit and do nothing. It means we stop trying to control the things only God can control, and trust He will provide what needs to be provided, heal what needs to be healed, and move what needs to be moved. When we try to do what’s out of our control, we don’t gain power, we lose strength. But when we wait on God, our strength is renewed because we’re not wasting energy striving to do something that we were never meant to do. Psalm 27:14 says: ”Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
It takes courage to wait and trust God! It’s in patient waiting that we gain strength. Some of us are spending energy in doing things which God has not called us to do, and we question why we get tired and worn out.
Some of us are weak because we’re not resting or abiding in the Lord, giving Him the necessary time to build up our spiritual muscles, and make us stronger. It takes trust and patience to wait on God and to be still and know that He will act, even when we can’t see the end from the beginning. It takes faith to go to sleep at night when our lives feel out of control.
Precious Abba Father, Thank You that You watch over me night and day, that You never slumber nor sleep, but that You stand ready to strengthen me when I need power. Help me to trust You as I wait expectantly for You to act on my behalf. Please grant me patience and the ability to rely on You in EVERY circumstance, knowing that You always know best what is best for me. Teach me to wait on You in patience and to stand firm in faith. Amen
Myrtle Turunen