HAVE YOU NOT KNOWN. HAVE YOU NOT HEARD.

Isaiah 40:28-31 (Amplified Bible) - Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. 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.

The everlasting God, the Lord and Creator of the ends of the earth does not faint or grow weary. What a God we worship. He is super-duper great and wonderful. We should never doubt His goodness. He gives power to those who are weary. He gives strength when we are wearied from the many onslaughts of the enemies of life. Sometimes we are not sure what hits us. We are not looking for trials. We are not searching for trouble. But life itself does not leave us alone. As long as we are here in this broken world anything unpleasant can happen. It is not always bad – maybe a little – but it certainly will shake us out of our comfort zone. Even in those circumstances He increases strength – causing it to multiply and making it to abound – so that we will be renewed. God did not promise us a trouble-free life, trials-protection scheme and zero-temptation pathway BUT he promises changed and renewed strength when we are faint, wearied and exhausted emotionally and spiritually.

I remembered a song by Phil Driscoll entitled Soldier. The song speaks of believers are soldiers engaging in the battles of life and returning home from the battlefield discouraged, wearied and exhausted in our spirits.  There have been long hours and days digging deep into the trenches with no sign of relief. There have been battle scars, wounds, weariness, exhaustion, doubt, fear and uncertainty all around. But the song ends it this way: when the day is over, when the night comes and you lie down on your bed REMEMBER you are still a child – a child of God.

Especially those of us who are serving the Lord; feeling weary and tired battling through tough situations, difficult people and relationships, and engaging in spiritual battle and warfare – we need to know clearly that when we put down our fighting gear for the night to rest a little we remember we are still His child. We are our Father’s sons and daughters. We may be soldiers for Christ in this battle torn world advancing the Kingdom of God but we are still His children – loved by Him with an everlasting love. He will renew our strength. He will cause us to mount up with wings like eagles. We will soar above the clouds – above our circumstances and into the very arms of the Father’s warm embrace. We will have abundant strength in the weary-land.

Whenever I feel the strain and the weight of responsibility in the work of the Lord, I needed to stop on my track, pause for a moment, and go into the chamber of my King. It is there that I would receive renewed strength and the comfort of the Lord. It is there in His presence that I am once reminded that I am His child and I belong to Him. He loves me with an everlasting love. No weapon forms against me will prosper. Nothing can separate me from the love of God. The devil cannot snatch me out of the palms of His hand.

Nothing can compare with the time a child has in the presence of his Father. His abiding presence removes all weariness of self-imposed expectations, all frustrations of the unexplained dynamic of relationships and unexpected circumstances and all fears of unknown paths that we know we have to walk through. Like Isaiah, in quietness and confidence, shall be my strength. It is learning to rest in Him completely – confident trust and quiet faith!!

Father God, I love you!