STRENGTH FOR THE WEARY

Strength for the Weary

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (Isaiah 40:29 NIV)

If you feel weary from the battle of everyday life; if you feel weak because you’ve been fighting against all kinds of opposition and you’re worn out, you’re the perfect candidate to receive strength and power from God.  Why?  Because God loves to give strength to weary people!  The promise is not for those who are self-sufficient, but for people who admit, “I can’t go on!  I’m weak, and the situation I’m facing is too big for me.  I’ve run out of strength!”  God even uses our mess-ups so that we will come back to him and tell him how much we need him.  The moment you admit your weakness, the power lever can be pulled in your life and the channel becomes open for you to receive God’s power.  If you are in the thick of the battle today and you feel you can’t go on, the promise is for you.  Don’t try to keep a stiff upper lip.  Tell the Lord that you’re running out of gas and that you need his strength and his power at work in you.  It doesn’t matter how weak you are; the Lord will be true to his Word, and there is no telling what miracle he will do in your life!

Read 2 Corinthians 12:5-10.

On a beautiful, sunny day, I was walking in a park and feeling very weary in spirit. It wasn’t just one thing weighing me down—it seemed to be everything. When I stopped to sit on a bench, I noticed a small plaque placed there in loving memory of a “devoted husband, father, brother, and friend.” Also on the plaque were these words, “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” (Isa. 40:31 esv).

Those familiar words came to me as a personal touch from the Lord. Weariness—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—comes to us all. Isaiah reminds us that although we become tired, the Lord, the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth “will not grow tired or weary” (v. 28). How easily I had forgotten that in every situation “[the Lord] gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (v. 29).

What’s it like on your journey today? If fatigue has caused you to forget God’s presence and power, why not pause and recall His promise. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (v. 31). Here. Now. Right where we are.