Isaiah 40:28–31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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.

It is not a downward progression. It is an uphill battle.

THE EXHAUSTION IS NOT A DISQUALIFICATION

Isaiah 40:29

He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength.

He gives power to the faint. To the one who has no might left.

That word faint in Hebrew is ya’ef. It means utterly exhausted.

The qualification for receiving God’s strength is not strength. The qualification is emptiness.

*Isaiah 40:30 *

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.

Isaiah says the strongest human beings on earth hit the wall. The wall is not a verdict on your character. The wall is the universal experience of being a creature with limits in a world that does not respect them.

You have to be empty to receive what He is offering.

The gospel does not begin with your strength. It begins with your need.

SOARING IS A MOMENT, WALKING IS A LIFE

*Isaiah 40:31 *

They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.SOARING IS A MOMENT, WALKING IS A LIFE

Isaiah 40:31 They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Walking and not fainting is not a lesser form of faithfulness. It is the truest form of it.

WAITING IS NOT INACTIVITY

Isaiah 40:31a

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

That word in Hebrew is qavah, and it does not mean to sit passively and do nothing while the clock runs out. The root of the word carries the image of a cord being twisted or woven together, threads that are being braided into something stronger than any single strand.

Waiting is not passive. Waiting is the active, faithful posture of a people who know who is on the throne and have decided to trust Him with what they cannot control.

The word is chalaph, and it means to exchange, to be relieved

Isaiah 40:28b

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He is the Creator of the ends of the earth, and He is offering His own inexhaustible strength to people who have run out of their own.

WHAT YOU DO NOW

Perseverance is not the consolation prize for people who ran out of energy. It is the primary calling.

He gives power to the faint.

He increases strength to those who have no might left.

They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall walk.

And they shall not faint.