Isaiah 40.31.
Isaiah 40.31 NKJV - But those who wait on the L
ORD - 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.
When I visit fellow Christians’ homes, a lot of ’em have a painting or mass-produced sculpture of an eagle somewhere. Some of the art’s of an American bald eagle, and are meant to express the owner’s patriotism. Others were purchased at the local Family Christian Stores, back when they were still around. Bald eagle or not, connection to God ’n country or not, they’re meant to express the owner’s
The eagle appeals to a lot of Christians because of the idea Isaiah expressed: The L
It’s great encouragement for those of us who have energy-draining jobs or lives. When our own batteries are depleted or dead, God can recharge ’em. When our resources are taxed, God always has more. Many’s the time I’ve told my students, “I ran out of
Actually… right. It is available to every Christian.
But it’s not promised, which is how we Christians wind up taking this verse
Did you remember what prophecy is?
Isaiah’s a prophet, and Isaiah is a prophetic book. But Christians—mostly because
The bible is full of prophecy, ’cause God spoke to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, John; and
But let me reiterate: Prophecy is everything God tells his people. It’s not just predictions of the future. And unfortunately that’s how
And sometimes they’re not! Sometimes it’s commands, declarations, and instructions. Sometimes—as is the case of today’s passage—it’s
Those who don’t read their bibles, tend to claim everything God says in the bible is a promise, is a “yes” and “amen.” As if God can’t speak in any other genre but wish-granting, foretelling, and thunderous divine decrees. Sometimes all he’s doing is telling us what he likes. How to behave. How to love one another. How to love him.
That’s what most prophetic literature consists of. It’s not just rants and threats against the wicked, and glories evermore for the righteous. It’s God talking to his people about whatever’s on his mind. Treating it all like promises means we’re not even trying to understand God. We’re just mining his words for rewards. We want stuff we can hold God to, like a contract we wanna manipulate in our favor.
It means our relationship with God doesn’t have a whole lot of trust in it.
This particular part of Isaiah falls into the category of wisdom literature. It’s not commands nor guarantees, no matter how often people claim they are. It’s situational stuff. All things being equal, they’re true. And sometimes things aren’t equal, and there are exceptions.
Shall they renew their strength?
People read that word “shall,” whether it’s in the
It’s really not. The verb
Usually. Like I said, wisdom literature is situational.
I point you to Samson. (He’s always a useful example of what not to do.) Dude
And sometimes renewing our strength doesn’t suit God’s purposes either. It just encourages us to take him for granted, and expect him to keep us away from burnout. Even though our lifestyles have no time management, no limits, and take no sabbaths. God
This is why so many Christians like to reinterpret this verse to mean God will strengthen his followers. It justifies all our exhaustion, all the overwork, all the stress, all the caffeine overuse: “God will replenish me. He promised he would.” Worse, it justifies all the commitments we demand from those under us. Many a church burns out its volunteers by promising them, “God promises to reward you for your dedication”—and he promised no such thing. He did promise stress, though.
Fact is, when we’re not wise with our strength, when we depend on God to make up for our lack of self-control (which he expects us to practice), he may renew nothing. We’ll burn out. We’ll learn our lesson the hard way.
To really wait on the LORD .
I translate the verse thisaway.
Isaiah 40.31 KWL - Those who wait for the L
ORD grow in strength. Their wings climb like eagles’. - They run and aren’t exhausted; walk and don’t tire.
The word
And expect him to act first. They’re following him. They’re not running ahead of him, looking back once they get tired and wonder why the guy with the Gatorade hasn’t kept up. They’re running alongside him. They stop when he stops, start when he says go.
It’s about closeness, intimacy, relationship. It’s not about working our hardest, then turning to God once our motor runs down. It’s about following him as far as he goes. And when we feel we can’t go any further, we grow in his strength. We climb, or gain altitude, like an eagle. We fly. Yeah that’s a metaphor; we’re not gonna
Context.
