Renewing Your Strength

I feel like every time I post, the posts just get longer and longer. I suppose it could be me growing long winded. *teehee* But, truthfully, I am learning that funny things happen when you actually study scripture. Call me crazy, but when you spend time looking into the Bible, prepare yourself for your jaw to drop. That is usually what happens to me. :)

Take Isaiah 40:31. God has been giving me almost daily encouragement the last few weeks that correspond with this verse (waiting is a very common theme in life). So as I was sailing through my Isaiah reading the other night, I was just sitting on my little bed...thinking.

"Those who (1)wait for the Lord

will (a)gain new strength;

They will (b) mount up with wings like eagles, 

They will run and not get tired, 

they will walk and not become weary."
~Isaiah 40:31~

Incredible promises, right? Waiting on the Lord, Him granting us a new strength that will last as we run and will not become weary. As a young women who is a little bit tired, this is always a breath of Life for my Spirit. 

And then...I noticed cross-references. *eye-brow wiggles*. I love it when there are cross-references. I get excited. Really excited. It is like a treasure map, showing us how to "dig in" even further.

First, the little (1) is where you could also put in "Hope in the Lord", instead of wait. "Those who hope (feeling of trust) in the Lord."...those who trust God will gain new strength.

Second, the little (a):

• Job 17:9
  "Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger."
• 2 Cor. 5:8-10
  "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; Perplexed, but not despairing; Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
• 2 Cor 5:16
  "Therefore we do not lose heart, but although our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."

Sin kills us--maybe not obviously (sometimes it can be very obvious), but it kills our spirits. Those little things we leave..those addictions, those unconfessed lies, the lust, that hatred you harbor...it eats at our hearts, our conciseness, and our spirits. These things may feel good at times, but it kills you quietly, for it is never satisfied with "just a little". Those addictions become stronger, those lies build, it becomes easier to hate and harbor bitterness (leading to self-pity). If left alone, each of these things will grow and grow like the disease it is.

If you talk to someone who has been saved through Jesus' mercy from a life of these things, he feels "set free" as if burdens have been lifted. Even as Christians, when we confess our sins to the Lord, He forgives us and lifts these burdens off of our shoulders. He strengthens us by taking the accusations and condemnation of sin. As we hold to the way of Righteousness--the way of Jesus Christ--our spirits grow stronger and stronger through every trial. Even as our physical bodies (like 2 Corinthians) begin to fail with age or through incredible persecution like our Brothers are suffering in the Middle East right now, we can be filled with a Breath of Life every day--Just as 2 Corinthians 5:16 says "we are being renewed day by day"!

The Little part (b) from "mount up":

• Exodus 19:4
  "You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to Myself."
• Deut. 32:11
  "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them (the children of Israel), He carried them on His pinions."
• Luke 18
  -A parable of a widow who went persistent to a Judge, pleading for justice. The Judge, fed up with how much she kept coming, decided to grant her wishes, even though he didn't believe in God. "And will God not bring about justice for His afflicted ones, who cry out to Him day and night?" (vs. 7)
• 2 Cor. 4:1
  "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart."
• Gal 6:9
  "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary."
• Hebrews 12:3
  "For considering Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

I love the picture of the Lord being like an eagle--His gentle wings covering His children in a protective gesture, shading and sheltering them. He protects us. Some translations talk about "pinions" instead of "wings". For those of you who don't know exactly what "pinions" are, they are the stiff feathers on wings that specifically help in both thrust and lifting the bird as it flies. God sustains us as we fix our eyes determinedly on Him, pushing forward with endurance to be close to Him (like the eagle) and in obedience. He gives us the thrust and the strength to climb the heights. Just as the widow in Luke 18 was persistent, so we must be persistent in "doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary" (Gal. 6:9). Where God says to go, when He says to speak, or when He says "stay put and wait"--there is where we must persist until He moves us. Don't lose heart if your work seems fruitless or things are not going as planned!

So. From Isaiah 41:30:
1) Those that Trust and Rely on God will gain the strength and Hope they need.
2) The more we release the sin or distractions that hold on to us, the more God can take those burdens and bondage that tie us down--and we gain freedom in Christ.
3) God, Himself--the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the One who has a name for every star, the One whom all of Creation knows  and praises--He is our protector and shelters us.
4) PUSH  forward in eagerness to serve Him and be fruitful for His glory. He promises to sustain you, to give you the "thrust" of endurance you need, and as you spend time with Him, truly TRULY you will find "rest for your soul"--even when trials come (Matthew 11:29)!

Resting Under His Wings,

(Original Image: google)