STRENGTH FOR THE DAY

"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."
(Isaiah 40:31 RSV)

It has always seemed to me that the Lord did this backward.
He has a descending order.  And we humans want an ascending order.
You know.
Crawl, walk, run.
Up, up and away.

Years ago Armin Gesswein coined an expression
regarding this portion of Scripture that helps me.
He said this is the three speed Christian.

As a retired auto mechanic and ex car nut -
that speaks to me.

If you are over forty years of age.
you know that all of life is not soaring on clouds
nine to thirteen.

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

Whether you are a Christian or not,

there are high points in life.  Mountain top experiences.

Few and far between.  But they are not life.

Most of life is more;

Another day, another dollar.

Ho hum.  Or as some used to say,

"Same O, same O."

Or just plain old boring.

Just another boring highway.

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

And by now most of us know that the road of life can be much 

worse than this Australian outback road.  In some parts of our 

area, that looks like a super highway.

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

Life often is more of a steep climb with a heavy backpack.

An uphill experience that requires a lower gear than out vehicle has.

So, how do we get this "renewed strength" for today?

The Scriptures say to "wait" on the Lord.  

Some versions say, "trust in" or "hope in" the Lord.

But to myself the help comes from dear old brother 

James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D.  He says this comes from 

the Hebrew word "qavah". [Now that's Greek to me.]

And that it is "a prim. root, to bind together

(perh. by twisting), ..."

Waiting on the Lord for strength is not sitting on a park

bench waiting for help.  That could be part of it.  But

waiting on the Lord is binding myself to the Lord.

Involving God in my life to the point that his life and

mine are twisted together as one.

When my "rope of life" consists of several strands,

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit

and me.

My rope will have all the strength I need

and, the Devil himself cannot break it.

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and 

purify your hearts, you men of double mind."

(James 4:8 RSV)