Day 9 | August 14, 2023

Isaiah 40:31

³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Wait, wait, wait! This seems to always be something we are doing. When we are young, it is waiting for a driver’s license. As we get older, waiting for graduation, a spouse, a job, whatever is next in life. It seems we are always wishing our lives away for the next best thing or for whatever is coming next. In our passage, our hope is not in what is next, or the next best thing. It is saying, “Stop, hope in the Lord to renew and give you strength.” Too often we are in such a hurry, we don’t wait on the Lord. We want it in our time and in our way and we wonder why we are tired, worn out, and lack hope. Isaiah is saying when we wait on the Lord, when we stop, He will lift us up. Where is our hope? In Him or in the world around us and our busyness? Are we always looking to move on? Always running?

Look at what the Lord promises when we stop and rest, placing our hope in him and not our own strength or the world’s. He will refresh us – and lift us up. It is our hope in Him that will renew us when we want to give up on life, in our struggles, and when we are tired. When we wait in the Lord, we will not be tired, and we can walk through anything. This doesn’t mean we won’t be physically tired or weary, but that God will give us strength to be able to carry on. It won’t always be easy, but He will renew us when we place our hope in Him. 

Let’s look to the Lord as our renewer and giver of life, where we place our hope. We need to pray for this day in and day out, because the burdens of life will overwhelm us if we don’t place Him first.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to rest in you, to put my hope in your renewal. Help me to seek your face when I lay down and rise in the morning. When I am tired and worn, renew me, lift me up, and help me know that I can carry on because of your strength, not under my own power. Thank you, God, for you are my hope… not the world around me. Amen.