"Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
His understanding in unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might He increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31
weary. exhausted. weak.
Words I know well.
There are many things I love about this passage, but my favorite?
Isaiah starts out reminding us who God is.
He doesn't address weariness or exhaustion until after he reminds his reader Who God is and how big God is.
We are weary, He is powerful.
We are exhausted, His strength has no limits.
We are limited in knowledge, He is unsearchable in knowledge.
There is not a single mortal man that does not meet his limit. his end. his crumbling point.
Even those that are young, smart, rich, successful, godly, will meet that point.
But, the story doesn't end there.
When we fall, when we faint, God is there.
God is there in times of strength
and in times of weariness.
It is in waiting...quiet waiting....
that we will be renewed.
We cease striving, planning, plodding, managing...
and rest.
Not only renewed, but we will be given a new perspective of it all.
A birds eye view so to speak.
God will give us wings like eagles to rise above the pain, the shame, the weariness.
We will be renewed in our fight against the Enemy and in our desire to run a race worthy of the prize.
It is in this place--the refuge of an Almighty, unlimited God--that we find what we need--
a renewed understanding of who God is.
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| a blessed reunion |
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| Bible story bed-time with Nana |
A few weeks ago,
I was weary in every sense of the word.
There were a lot of things that hit the fan so to speak,
and I found myself exhausted...
mentally, emotionally, spiritually,
exhausted.
This came at a time when I was planning a small getaway with the kids for about five days.
I stayed with a woman that has been a great tool in the hands of God in my life through the years.
All through high school, her youngest son was one of my nearest and dearest friends.
We understood each other without the muddle of romance.
He was someone I could count on and so was she.
Our friendship has changed as we have both married and started families,
but there are those people that no matter how many miles or how many years pass,
the friendship remains.
I had people praying for me and the more miles that passed
the lighter I felt.
I needed to get away and refocus. recharge. rest.
I had very few plans for the weekend and very few expectations.
I pulled in her driveway about two hours earlier than planned.
Just in time for dinner :)
It was a warmish spring day and unknown to me, her two sons were coming to help out for a bit that evening. Yay!
What a blessing it was to see good, godly friends again.
They each had their children with them so it was fun to see them as dads.
We sat at the dinner table well after the kids had finished and had gone to play
and talked about God, marriage, loving our spouses, loving our children and blood sugar.
It was a lovely evening.
I went to bed that night smiling.
I didn't ask for it and He certainly didn't have to give it,
but that night He gave me a tangible reminder of Who He is.
He is a God of fellowship, brotherhood, community.
God did not create us to be alone or to walk this road alone.
There are moments when the sense of isolation is all around me.
It is in those moments that God reminds me of His faithfulness
and His presence that is unaffected by the temporal things of earth.
The weekend just got better from there and I left for home
ready to face life again and to run the race set before me.
God is faithful!
May renewal,
refocus,
and refreshment
be attributes of your weekend.
Blessings!
<><tce
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