Renewal of Your Strength!
“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on 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 40:30-31, New King James Bible).
“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired” (Isaiah 40:30-31, Amplified Bible).
Let me expand Isaiah 40:30-31 in the original Hebrew Text:
· Even young (boy, lad, servant, youth, servant) shall faint and become weary.
· (Selected, chosen) Young men shall stumble, stagger, totter, become feeble, and fall exhausted.
· But those who wait for the Lord - who wait, look for, expect, hope in God, and bind themselves together with Him…
· Shall renew – to come on anew, sprout again, change, substitute, alter, change for better, and show newness of life.
· Their strength – human strength with the strength of angels and the power from God and become ready to produce as the soil with wealth to produce fruit.
· They shall lift their wings.
· They shall mount up as eagles – They shall ascend, climb, rise, come up before God, excel, become superior, be exalted by their ascension.
· They shall run – run swiftly, move like a dart, move quickly, hurry without delay or hesitation.
· They shall not be weary – will not toil, labor, grow weary.
· They shall walk – proceed, move, lead.
· They shall not faint – to be or grow weary, be fatigued, be faint, wearied.
Between the two versions, New King James and the Amplified, the Amplified Version is close to the original Hebrew text.
Even the Chosen Young Shall Tumble!
The verse clearly identifies young people, and not the ordinary ones but especially the qualified, chosen, and selected young people. Basically, the tendency of the qualified young may be that they can do it on their own and need no help from anyone, especially God. King Saul was chosen, young, tall, handsome, and was distinct among all of Israel but the main reasons for his downfall were that he encroached in the office of a prophet with arrogance and showed himself bigger than God. He encroached in the office of Samuel by giving the sacrifice Prophet Samuel only could have given and spared the king of the Amelek that God did not want spared. The indictment on Saul was pronounced by Samuel: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (I Samuel 15:22-23).
In contrast, David whom King Saul saw as a young lad, “You are a youth, and he (Goliath) a man of war from his youth” (I Samule 16:33), was a youth anointed of God to take Saul’s place as King, and yet, followed God faithfully and cared what God cared for more than what he achieved with his own strength. It is because of that reason God said of David: “a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people” (I Samuel 13:14).
I admire the champion athletes giving God the glory. I was at Penn State University in 1982, when the Nittany Lions football team (ranked #8) faced an insurmountable odd to beat the team from Nebraska (ranked #2). We only had a minute and a few seconds left in the game. When the quarterback of Penn State, Todd Blackledge, a believer in the Lord and a scholarly student atop his class (Pi Beta Kappa), came on the scene to lead his team, he was faced with the noisy crowd of over 94,000 and an expectant crowd. The stadium was rocky and noisy! Todd prayed for strength from God. Immediately, the crowd noise vanished, and the Word of God flashed before him in a bright light: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me” (Philippians 4:13). Todd completed four passes in succession, and the final play gave PSU the lead leaving the opponents a few more seconds on the clock. Our home team won the game that day and won the national championship that year by beating Georgia Bulldogs! At the end, Todd gave thanks to God for the strength he had received from Him and for the victory! He said that he could not have won the game in his natural strength but that which he received from God.
In my own life, I cannot forget the year after I graduated atop of my class finishing my first degree in Physics, when I had to sit at home with God closing the doors for my post graduate studies. It was in that very year, I sought the Lord a few hours every day, sitting in the middle of a forest, and praying to God. The following year, God directed me to the city where God brought Hema into my life which changed everything in my life. Seeking God and leaning on God which started that year have never failed me for 54 years until today in all my moments of perils, achievements, sufferings, and pain, to live not in my natural strength but with God’s grace and power.
“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength!”
True Meaning of Waiting on God!
Waiting for God simply means:
· That We Have HEARD FROM GOD!
· That We EXPECT God to Come Through!
· That We LOOK FOR Him!
· That We HOPE (WITH EARNEST EXPECTATION) in Him!
· That We BIND OURSELVES WITH GOD!
The young Israelites heard from God through Moses that God would deliver them from Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land, a land of milk and honey. While they saw the wonders and miracles, they never came to believe that God would lead them to the land unknown to them. As a result, none of them made it into the Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua who wholeheartedly believed God, expected God to fulfill His promise, looked for Him to lead them in their way, and never lost hope in Him. Here is the account: “So the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ So, the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone” (Numbers 32:10-13).
We must remember the promises of God!
We must stay in the place of people remembering the promises of God and rehearsing on God’s unfailing faithfulness and goodness!
We must expect God to come through any moment because God who promised us will never fail us nor forsake us!
We must be looking for Him with faith!
We must Hope in God. Hope is a powerful antidote to unbelief and naysayers. Hope operates with the “Earnest Expectation” that what God promised, He would most certainly fulfill!
In true waiting, we bind ourselves with God who simply cannot fail!
Faith simply is LOYALTY TO GOD, and loyalty is binding ourselves with God who simply CANNOT fail!
That is true waiting on God without distraction!
Renewal of Strength!
For 45 years, Caleb never lost his strength because he waited on God and followed God. Here are the words of Caleb to Joshua at the time of his inheritance of the land promised to Him: “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. So, Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. Yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said” (Joshua 14:7-12). Here is the end of the story: “And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war” (Joshua 14:13-15).
Soaring Close to God!
“They shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]” (Isaiah 40:31).
Our physical elevation and recognition are always related to God being exalted in us. As God’s people soar close to God as eagles mounting up to the sun, their surroundings will sooner or later take notice and respond to God’s greatness in them. Joseph’s council was lauded by Pharaoh who elevated him to be the governor of Egypt: “So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt’” (Genesis 41:37-41).
Joseph is a prime example of God testing him as a young man who did not see the light of day from age 17 through 30 but was suddenly elevated to power. His testing prior to his elevation has been recorded by the Psalmist: “(God) sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons (His soul came into irons). Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to bind (as prisoners) his princes at his pleasure and teach his elders wisdom” (Psalm 105:17-22).
As we read about many leaders of the faith, we find them as loners, separated from the world, carrying with them their visions and promises whether anyone understood them or not but drawing their strength and power solely from God. Their exaltation was from God. They did not forget God in their times of exaltation because of what they went through prior to their crowning. Likewise, when God gets hold of us at such a young age and when we get hold of God with absolute love and trust, there is no breaking of that bond that becomes a binding tie lasting throughout our lives from the lowest moments to the pinnacle. Through it all, God, and God alone, is exalted!
A Steady Walk to The Very End!
“They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired” (Isaiah 40:31).
Here is true meaning in the Hebrew text:
· They run swiftly!
· They travel like darts!
· They do not hesitate but move quickly!
· They lead other people with their strength!
· They elevate their whole place to the level of their belief!
· There is no weariness in their souls because their souls prosper!
· Their walk is steady till the very end!
I thank God for the leaders of God leading their businesses, ministries, communities, and even the nations. They operate with such strength and power that are not their own but bestowed by God. They walk and run with the strength from above and lift their whole team around them to a newer level of sprouting, achieving, and accomplishing the new heights and seeing the new horizons.
Let us continue in that God-given strength as we wait on God and draw strength from Him!
Let us soar with Him and stay in His presence!
Let us finish strong by God’s grace with shouts of victory!
In Jesus’ Name! Amen!
Prayer
“Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You and bow down before You. I thank You, Lord, for the gift of salvation by the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus, on the cross. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. All things are new in me, Lord, because of You. In You, I am renewed, strengthened, and made anew to bear fruit. Your promises are true, and I am so thankful for them. They are with me throughout the day and night as I believe in You and trust You to fulfill all of them. I will walk in Your strength and soar in Your love. My power is in You. My breath is in You. My walk is with You. I will stay close to You all the days of my life. In the Most Precious and Wonderful Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”
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John Jeyaseelan
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