They That Wait on the Lord

There is a season that comes to almost every life, when the things you were sure of begin to give way. This is a word for anyone standing on shaky ground tonight, and it comes from one of the most tender promises in all of Scripture.

But they that wait upon 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 faint.

Isaiah 40:31

This is a season of renewal, of revival. But renewal usually finds us at the end of ourselves. Many times we come to a point where all else seems to fail. The thing that was never supposed to go wrong goes wrong. A relationship we thought would last forever. A job or business we thought we could never lose. A friend we thought would never disappoint us. An institution we trusted to do its job. A doctor we counted on. There comes a time when the impossible happens, when even the youths faint and the strong utterly fall.

Have you not heard?

If you are faint tonight, if you are weary, scared, and afraid because the ground beneath you feels unsteady, God has a word for you. Have you not heard? Have you not known? That the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint. He is never weary, never worn out, never tired. He is never confused or out of options, never at a loss for what to do.

Now, I am sure that if I asked you whether God is strong, many of you would answer at once. Yes, Pastor, I know God is strong. Yes, I know God is never weary. Yes, I know God is never confused about what to do. But then comes the quiet doubt: I just do not know whether he will come through for me. You see, I have not been so good lately. I have not been strong lately. I have not been who I ought to be lately. So I know this mighty God can do great things, but I am not sure he will do them for me.

The real question is not ability but willingness

Here is something I have come to discover: most of us do not actually doubt the ability of God. What we doubt is his willingness to deploy that ability on our behalf. God is able to heal me, but will he? God is able to restore my finances, but will he? God is able to restore my home, my marriage, my studies, but will he?

If you have ever asked those questions, I have a word from the Lord for you. In Isaiah 40, the Bible says this everlasting God, this Creator of all the earth, gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might he increases strength. My friend, God is more eager to heal you than you are to be healed. God is more eager to restore your strength when you fail than you are desirous of having it restored.

He feels what you feel

Do you know why God is so willing? Because he does not watch your pain from a safe distance.

In all their affliction he was afflicted.

Isaiah 63:9

That pain you feel when your body hurts, God Almighty feels it too. That sorrow in your heart when you are all alone, God feels it too. That heartache over the loss of your job, your Father feels it too. This is not a distant deity managing the universe from far away. This is a God who has bound himself to you so closely that your affliction becomes his own. A God like that is not reluctant to help you.

What it means to wait

When the Bible says wait upon the Lord, it does not mean sit still and do nothing. To wait upon the Lord means to trust him, to take action based on the promise of his word. So tonight, if you will take steps, take faith actions, because you believe and are trusting that God is not only able to meet you at your point of pain but also willing to do so, the Bible says something dramatic will begin to happen in your life.

You will experience a renewal in your strength. That which seemed to have failed will suddenly come back to life. You will mount up with new wings like the eagle, rising from the ashes and depths of failure to new heights you never imagined. You will run and not be weary. You will walk and be utterly unstoppable, in the name of Jesus.

Look closely at those three pictures, because each one is a promise. To mount up with wings as eagles is to rise higher than the situation that once defeated you; when God renews, he does not merely restore, he lifts you above where you were before the trouble came. To run and not be weary is to make rapid progress, to cover in a short season what once would have taken years, and to do it without burning out, because the Lord himself becomes your strength. And to walk and not faint is the promise of endurance for the long, ordinary stretches, the steady daily grace to keep going when there is no dramatic breakthrough in sight.

Change what you are hearing

The Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But the reverse is also true: fear and doubt come by hearing, by hearing the words of men. No wonder our passage begins by asking, have you not heard? What have you been listening to? Many of us do not need more willpower; we need to change what we are hearing.

James tells us to lay aside every hindrance and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. So make a decision to reject the words that have been engendering fear and worry, and to receive instead the word of faith that is able to save you. Lay aside the noise, and let God's promise take root in your heart.

A candidate for God's strength

You may have heard the saying that God helps those who help themselves. It is a nice phrase, but it is not in the Bible, and it is not the whole truth. God is saying tonight, I will help you when you are beyond help, when no one else can, when you have reached the end of what human effort can do. Are you weak tonight? Then you are a candidate for God's strength. Are you fainting? Then you are a candidate for God's power. The very emptiness you are ashamed of is the qualification he is looking for.

The promise is that when God renews you, he does not merely restore what was lost; he lifts you higher. If your health failed, when the Lord heals you, you will be so renewed that your body feels fresh, like Naaman whose skin became like that of a newborn. If you lost ground, you will run and accomplish in a short time what once took years, because the Lord himself will be your strength.

So lift your eyes tonight from the people and things that can fail, and fix your trust on the everlasting God who never faints. Say to him, Lord, I put my confidence not in man, but in you, the Creator of heaven and earth. You are not only able to save and deliver and strengthen; I believe you are willing. Behold, he is making all things new.

If that word has found you at the very end of yourself, take heart. The end of your strength is not the end of your story; it is the doorway into his. The God who does not grow weary has more than enough for the both of you. Lean the whole weight of your weakness on him, and let him carry what you cannot. This is the hour of your renewal, and they that wait on the Lord shall surely renew their strength.