A Strength That Endures
There are times of refreshing in the presence of the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 says, But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired (The Amplified Bible).
According to this verse, it's waiting on God that renews us. So what does it mean to wait? It means spending time with God, meditating on His Word, thinking about Him, talking about Him…making Him the center of your life.
Jesus didn't die so we could have religion. He died so we could have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with God. And that relationship with God will strengthen us…it will bring us through hard times.
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God gives us the ability to do what we need to do in life. He's our enabler. His strength gives us what we need and also makes us strong enough to reach out to people around us and minister to them even while we're going through difficult times.
I believe that when we stay close to God, it helps us to be young at heart. I'm in my sixties and I'm young at heart! Psalm 103:5 says, …Your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]! (The Amplified Bible).
Now, I had a lousy childhood and never really got to be a kid. I was sexually abused by my dad and grew up in fear. I felt responsible for the abuse and also felt responsible to try and hide it from my mother. But I decided about fifteen years ago that it's never too late to have a renewed youth!
No one is exempt from needing renewal. We all get weary sometimes, and I think a lot of people make bad decisions when they're worn out. We have to take time to wait on God so we can be restored, renewed, refreshed, revived, refilled, redeemed… And spending time with Him on a regular basis will help us to hear Him speaking to our heart and know how to make good decisions.
After I started spending time with God regularly each morning, one day some of my kids complained about me going into my room instead of making them breakfast like a "normal" mother. They were teenagers at this point. I told them, "Listen, you're old enough to put your cereal in a bowl, and you better thank God that I'm going to my room every morning because you're going to have a nicer day if I do."
I want to say something to those of you who are in ministry. Don't think that working for God replaces spending time with Him. God had to teach me that people in ministry can be the guiltiest of all when it comes to this because we are so busy with our ministry, serving God and working for Him. The Lord opened my eyes to see that I was so proud of myself for working for Him, but the problem was, I wasn't spending any time with Him. The truth is, you don't get to know God by working for Him-you have to spend time with Him to get to know Him. And we need to know Him!
I want to say it again: They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. So when you feel weary, wait on God.
Think about the eagle…up above the storm, looking down on it, riding the thermal currents of the wind. He doesn't have to constantly flap his wings. He soars in the sky.
God is looking for eagle Christians. He wants to renew us. And as we're renewed, we will have a strength that endures, no matter what we're going through.
