Isaiah 40:31
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But they that wait on 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 be faint.
The bedrock of all relationships is an endearing trust upon each other. When there is no trust a relationship stagnates and meanders to a staggering low point. Faith and dependence have no existence without Trust. Trust can only begin when we give our complete self to that person by not holding back ourselves, hoping that it will all work together for good.
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This verse was written at a time when the Israelites were held captive by the mighty Babylonians. The Babylonian empire was the most ruthless and powerful empire at that time. The Israelites were powerless, bruised physically and mentally, weak and feeble, having no prospects of deliverance from their belligerent and merciless captors. Only few prisoners saw a small flicker of hope that some day they would return to their homeland. It was under these perilous circumstances that Isaiah wrote these words to encourage and exhort the prisoners to not lose hope and trust in the almighty God to deliver them from their captors.
The first part of the verse talks about “waiting”. The term waiting in essence implies an attitude of immense faith and trust. To cite a simple example, when we stand in a que at Mcdonalds we patiently wait for our turn to place the order, because we have immense faith that the item we order will be presented on our table. Similarly, when we wait on God we basically exercise our trust and faith to believe in the wonder working power of our almighty God. Unbelief, pride and self confidence are the biggest deterrents to waiting upon God. When we wait upon God He does umimaginable things beyond our human comprehension. God honours those who are ready to wait upon Him and let him take complete dominion over their life. Then it no longer is a case of us doing things on our own strength but trusting on God to lead us forward victoriously. We need to yield to his will for the period of waiting to come to fruition. This requires complete surrender, placing all our faith and dependence on the sole source of all our strength, God.
The first part of the verse also talks of “renewing our strength”. The Hebrew word commonly used for the term renewal is “chadash” which means to change, to alter; to revive, to renew, to cause to flourish again that which has decayed. What we think is a dead end is a fresh turn for God. When we give the reigns of our life in His hands He breathes a fresh life into our dead situations by renewing our strength and invigorating us to go higher and deeper than ever before. When we walk in His strength we become more than conquerors in all adversities and troubles.
In the second part of the verse, Isaiah seamlessly draws our attention to an Eagle. He compares the soaring flight of the eagle to those whose strength is renewed by the Lord. The eagle is among a rare category of birds which lives and retains its vigour to a great age. Popular opinion states that a eagle plunges itself in the sea and casts off its old feathers, and that new feathers come forth, and thus it lives for a long age. The flight of an eagle is very high compared to most birds and they possess immense strength and vigour and they fly out of any danger. Isaiah exhorts and encourages the prisoners that their strength will be restored and they will rise up out of their captivity just like a soaring eagles flies high out of any apparent danger. When we walk with God on our side we have nothing to fear because He is in complete control and he takes us on that flight of ascendancy where no danger can befall us.
The final part of the verse says ‘they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not be faint. If we go forth in our own strength, we will faint, and utterly fall; but having our hearts and our hopes in heaven, we shall be carried above all difficulties, and be enabled to lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus.
Today, lets bring everything to God, learning to trust and depend on Him alone for all our needs, no matter how big or small it is.
Paul Samuel
Paul is serving as the Worship Coordinator of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at musicbuff99@gmail.com
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