New Strength — Broken & Hopeful
Do you ever feel as though you’ve been waiting forever? That every time you get your hopes up thinking change is coming you get squashed back to the dreariness of another day of holding on? You just want something to give, but nothing seems to be budging at all.
Holding onto God’s promises can seem like a stupid dream sometimes. The voice of the enemy comes sniveling into your thoughts—“Did God really say…?” And you let it run rampant and start to move into doubt, fear, frustration and anxiety. Or at least I do.
I think it’s ok to exclaim like the Psalmist “Lord, you seem so far away when evil is near! Why do you stand so far off as though you don’t care? Why have you hidden yourself when I need you the most?” (Ps 10:1 TPT) I always find it interesting that God allowed David and the other authors of Psalms to cry out in their emotion. He didn’t smite them or curse them or even ignore them. They bore their pain in raw honesty before Him, and He was ok with that.
On the days when I feel I cannot go on any further with the weight I feel bearing down, I remember His strength is enough.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:28-31
These verses don’t say that whoever tries really hard and performs the best will have the strength they need. Or that those who do everything right will be the ones to earn this privilege. He says it’s true for those who wait for Him, or those who hope in Him.
So, turn your eyes to the One who made those eagles and knows how to make you fly. Wait for the One who empowers your hand to do things you never imagined possible. Hope in Him who carries the weary and invites them to cast their burdens on Him. And walk forward with new strength—strength that isn’t something you drummed up with your will power, but rather the strength of the indwelling Life that pours out of you.
