“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:30-31 KJV
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is your periodic reminder that waiting on God is the most powerful thing you can do, the most powerful position you can assume, and the most powerful endeavour you can devote yourself to. Our Bible verse for today is one of those verses that immediately hits you with the intentionality of God’s providence and mindfulness of us if you’re attentive enough.
When you look closely, you will find that God normalises our humanity and weakness. He speaks about it as something that is bound to happen before He prescribes the remedy which can only be found in Him through waiting. It is not a question of youth, skill or ability. One thing that is bound to happen is the depletion of our strength as we move through life because we can never be sufficient in ourselves. We were not made to be sufficient in ourselves. A great example is the device you are using to read this devotional now. As efficient as it is, it was not made to function forever without running out of power, and resultantly being renewed with electricity through a charger, and while this is happening, you must wait, for charging a depleted battery is not an instant thing. It takes a process and if you want to get the best result for your device, you must wait for its battery to be fully charged. A full charge ensures that your battery lasts longer and serves you well.
If you can understand this concept for your device, then you will be able to understand it for your life.
When you look closely at the text for today, you will see different kinds of enablements that God releases in the place of waiting. He gives strength to soar smoothly and tirelessly like eagles connoting the ease that comes with a certain kind of empowerment, wisdom and maturity (because the eagle is an apex predator who is intelligent and wise enough to utilise the forces of nature to its advantage for hunting and gliding at a very high altitude), He gives strength to run and not be weary connoting speed and the capacity to expend the level of resilience and skill needed to harness one’s own mobility to brave things like friction and handle great speed, and finally He gives strength to walk and not faint, which connotes great patience, endurance and strength to keep at something for a long time without getting tired or frustrated. When we analyse these things like this, we will find that in waiting, strength for every situation and every circumstance we may ever find ourselves in is fully provided by the God who deeply knows and loves us.
Everything we will ever do with the life that God has given us is intended to lead us to an expected end which is a fulfilment of our purpose in God. So all the big and small things that we will ever do or accomplish on this earth are ultimately tied to our purpose of knowing God and making Him known by all of creation. From marriage to the jobs that we will do to parenthood or any kind of priesthood where we will render any form of assistance to any creature on earth in our capacity as the image of God, it all leads to our purpose- knowing God and making Him known. These things will happen at different levels of speed and direction for us, and God’s assurance to us is that in waiting, we will receive the perfect amount of strength required to help us through any situation we may find ourselves.
Once we realize this, we will understand that God wants us to succeed and have everything we need to have purposeful lives way more than we do. So when He tells us to wait, He’s not testing us to satisfy Himself that we are worthy of the things He wants to give us, neither is He punishing us unduly because He is God. Waiting is for our own good always.
Through waiting, we can learn who our real source and sustenance is. We can unlearn the unprofitable sense of urgency that makes us forget that God is the holder and the director of our lives. We can learn more and more about The God who we labour for, our character is refined so the blessing does not consume us, everything inconsistent with our purpose in God can be uprooted and skimmed away, and we can build capacity, maturity and stamina for everything that God will have us receive and do. Waiting is extremely important for direction and speed.
One thing I want you to realize above all things is that God is already ready to do anything and give us anything. He is not reactive; he doesn’t just move with the flow. Yet, this all-powerful God who is omnipresent and waiting for us in the future chooses to wait with us, nourishing us, tending to us, faithfully teaching us and empowering us in the wait. This alone should give you a glimpse of how powerful waiting is.
Prayer Point:
Dear God, I thank You for the gift of waiting. I receive the grace to see this gift exactly as You see it, in the mighty name of Jesus I have prayed, Amen.
Meditation Prompt:
Spend some time speaking to the Holy Spirit about how you can continue to practice rest in this second half of the year. Don’t forget to journal!
Prayer Prompts:
6:00 am: Pray for Northern Nigeria. Pray that the gates of hell will not prevail over the church in the North. Pray for strength for our siblings there.
9:00 am: Pray for the grace to enjoy and love communion with God.
12:00 pm: Pray for five ministries that come to mind. Speak blessings over them as led by The Holy Spirit.
3:00 pm: Pray for your city, that God is glorified and His light shines throughout.
6:00 pm: Pray for divine protection, that you and everyone you hold dear is safely cocooned in the hollow of God’s palm.
9:00 pm: Ask God what He wants you to pray about.
Thank you for this devotional! Last night I wrote an email to God; asking him why he has abandoned me . The waiting season seems to be unending . I’ve been okay but recently, the warfare has been relentless, my strength is depleting.
But I reminded again that as I wait , he would strengthen me. More than anything, I pray for new eyes , for grace to see the waiting as a gift/ a blessing.
Thank you Funmi❤️❤️