June 9, 2017
Isaiah 40:28-31
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
One more time – our featured Scripture – Isaiah 40:28 through 31:
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the
LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.
There is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the weak,
and to those who have no might He increases 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.
We’ll try to finish up this series by examining the benefits derived when we wait on the LORD in verse 31 of Isaiah 40.
• We already saw…
✞ …in verse 28 that when we wait on the LORD our understanding of God is expanded! (See Over Or Under? – III, Monday’s blog).
✞ …in verses 29 and 30 that we cannot make it on our own strength! (See Over Or Under? – IV, Wednesday’s blog).
• So let’s go on to the benefits listed in verse 31 – “…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.”
✞ “…they…shall renew their strength….” Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10, “…be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Remember, as Christians, we have two natures, the old Adamic nature – also called the deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9); the natural man (I Corinthians 2:14); the flesh (Galatians 5:19); the old man (Ephesians 4:22) – and the new nature, that which we receive when we are born again (see John 3:3-8; II Corinthians 5:17). If we do not work to strengthen the new nature (see Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), the sinful world will input strength into the old! And the old sinful nature will be the dominant one manifested! (See Proverbs 4:23; Mark 7:20-23).
However, to wait on the LORD, the main thing we can do is what Paul admonishes in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….” The new nature is fed and made strong through the word of Christ, the Bible! Or, as it says in Colossians 3:10, “…the new man…is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him….” Such knowledge comes from knowing God and His Word!
✞ “…they shall mount up with wings like eagles….” From www.reference.com/ pets-animals/high-can-eagle-fly-98ca31be0fecef5d:
Eagles fly 10,000 to 15,000 feet high at about 65 mph. They can glide
for hours without rest on warm updrafts of air. With their acute vision,
they are able to spot prey a mile down below.
Most problems – trials, testings, temptations, etc. – are at ‘ground level’ of this old sinful world! (See I John 2:15-17). If we are at ‘ground level’ (you might say, if we are of the world – see John 17:16; James 4:4), we will find ourselves Under our problems instead of Over them! But if we wait on the LORD, we shall mount up with wings as eagles! Being ten to fifteen thousand feet above the problems sure can give things a different perspective! This is seeing things from God’s perspective! And, as far as problems – trials, testings, temptations, etc. – are concerned, “…with God all things are possible…”! We can be like Paul who testified in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
✞ “…they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Sometimes it takes great effort to overcome a problem. It may seem like the solution is a long way off. But whether we have to run or walk that long distance, if we wait on the LORD, we can cover the distance to the solution without getting weary, without being faint ! And, as mentioned in the last point, if we mount up with wings as eagles, we can add flying to running and/or walking!
Consider Elijah in…
✡ …I Kings 18:41 through 46. Due to Elijah’s prayers, there was a three-and-a-half year drought in Israel (see James 5:17, 18). And when he prayed for the drought to end, the prophet was told to warn King Ahab in verse 41 to “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” Apparently, Ahab was also told to drive his chariot to Jezreel before the rain stopped him (verse 45). But this is what it says in verse 46: “Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
✡ …I Kings 19:1 through 8. Queen Jezebel threatened to have Elijah killed. “And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life…” (verse 3). The prophet was so devastated by the problems he was facing, “…he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’ ” (verse 4). But an angel came and fed him, giving him strength (verses 5 through 8), and it says in verse 8 (Easy-to-Read Version), “So Elijah got up. He ate and drank and felt strong. Then Elijah walked for 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.”
“…they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). This was precisely true in Elijah’s case! And God can do whatever it takes for us to overcome our challenges! If we wait upon the LORD, we can be Over our troubles instead of Under them!