How We Gain New Strength

He gives strength to the weary, and to the one who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:29-31).

Listen to Me in silence, you coastlands, And let the peoples gain new strength…(Isaiah 41:1).

The Lord is aware we are downtrodden, battle-weary. He sees us marching through the fog of weariness, calloused fists gripping His promises, battered brows fierce with determination.

Thus, He begins Isaiah 40 with comfort and kindness.

Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended (Isaiah 40:1-2).

The warfare will have an end.

There is a day coming when it will end. What blessed comfort to know that this present struggle will see an end.

In the meantime, there is a way to gain new strength. God’s encouragement to Israel offers two specific ways this happens.

Waiting

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up on wings like eagles… (40:31).

Qâvâh (Hebrew): to wait for, to bind together (perhaps by twisting), The root meaning is that of twisting or winding a strand of cord or rope.

How appropriate that the Hebrew word for wait used here means to twist.

Yet those who wait (are twisted and twist, like a cord being prepared to hold strength) for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up on wings like eagles…

Waiting for the warfare to end is indeed like being twisted and twisting. 

Twisted until nothing is left but the very strongest fiber of our being, that which holds up even under the greatest strain. 

Twisting impatiently, wanting normal to return. Wondering if it ever will. 

Twisting in the hand of a sovereign God. 

Twisted between the opposing hands of our faith and our doubt.

Twisting, or waiting, is one way we gain new strength. 

Ecclesiastes sheds even more light on the strength that comes when we are twisted like a cord being prepared to hold strength.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

When we wait alone as one strand we can be easily broken. We snap. We fray. We lose our hold on hope.

We need community in our waiting. Even one friend willing to wait with us can make a marked difference. One friend added to our one strand of strength arms us with the ability to defend ourselves.

But the greatest gain in strength comes from the third strand. When we wait upon the Lord, we invite Him into the twisting. We wait fully upon Him for new strength. Not for a change in global circumstances, a new government, renewed physical health, return of a prodigal, a different job, or an information breakthrough. We wait upon the Lord. 

The strength that results from waiting on the Lord means we cannot be easily broken. What once frayed and frazzled us will not faze us. We will gain new power to mount up on wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary; we will walk and not faint. 

If I must wait, if I must twist and be twisted by circumstances beyond my control, or even the consequences of my own choices, I will wait only upon the Lord. He will indeed give me strength like a cord of three strands that cannot be quickly torn apart.

Silence

…listen to Me in silence, and let the peoples gain new strength… (41:1).

A second way we gain new strength is by silence.

I once emerged upon an open savannah at sunset. My teammates and I had been traveling the long road from Mombasa to Nairobi, Kenya and realized our opportunity. Veering off the disheveled pavement, we made our way across a sandy path-road in hope of seeing a giraffe or the ever-elusive leopard.

Stopping amidst the gently waving grass, we climbed on our seats and stuck our heads out the top of the vehicle to wait and watch.

The silence was stunning. The air was active, alive, thrumming with anticipation. Ours was no passive, sleepy silence. We were expectant with joy.

As evening sunlight dripped golden across the landscape, they came. Two giraffes, gentle, stately, towering. 

And they danced.

Feet anchored in place, long, elegant necks pliéd in graceful swirls as the two exquisite creatures engaged in their own private Pas de Deus. The silence was their symphony; the dance was their worship.

We did not speak. We worshipped with them, in awe of the Creator of the giraffe, the Conductor of silent symphonies in hidden places humans seldom tread.

Silence need not be heavy and awkward. Silence can be active, listening, infused with anticipation, inspiration, and worship.

When we veer off the disheveled pavement of our present journey to listen in silence to the Lord, we will gain new strength.

We will become worshippers. We will behold beauty we might otherwise have missed. 

Tragically, we may never even be aware such beauty exists if we do not take time to listen in silence.

How are you being twisted today? What has you in its grip, waiting, twisting?

What road are you traveling today? Have you considered stopping awhile to listen in the silence?

Those who wait upon the Lord, those who listen to the Lord in #silence will gain new #strength. Click To Tweet

Lord, I will trust You to give me new strength as I quiet my soul and wait upon You alone. Amen.

audreycfrank