Devotion - Tuesday, January 13

Isaiah 40 offers a comforting image of what life is like for those who set their hearts on God.  The oracle acknowledges that one can easily become overtaxed.  "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and the young shall fall exhausted."  Perhaps you have found yourself experiencing this.  Maybe you feel as if there is no strength to go on.

The pastoral conversations I share often reveal a concern of fainting and falling before the goal is reached.  Sometimes the exhaustion is associated with understanding what the end goal is or ought to be.

The beauty of Isaiah 40 is the assurance that while even the young and strong may have difficulties, "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."

That is a lofty image and we may not feel as if it has occurred in our lives.  But the words of Isaiah are more than a lofty image, they are a promise.  They are an assurance.

One of the ways I experience this in my life is the ability to do my best and then not worry about the results.  When I act, not to achieve a particular end, but to be in service to God, I don't need to worry about the outcome.  I can leave that God.  I have done my part.  This does not mean that I fail to circle back and evaluate and try again.  But it does mean that I am set free from an endless spiral of self-questioning.

Life is tough.  And many do grow weary and faint.  Our strength is renewed, by our devotion to God.  We mount up, as on eagles wings.