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Those Who Wait Will Renew Their Strength

Devotional for October 18 · Isaiah 40:31 · 12-minute read

21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth? 22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless. 24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble. 25“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 27Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”? 28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out. 29He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. 31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:21–31 · BSB

Context

Isaiah 40 opens a new section of the book that runs through chapter 55. The assumed setting is the exile in Babylon, probably in the sixth century BC: Jerusalem destroyed in c. 586 BC, the temple in ruins, much of the people far from home. Many scholars attribute this section to a prophet of the exile who followed in Isaiah's tradition; others attribute it to Isaiah himself, in the eighth century BC. Either way, the text speaks to people who are tired of waiting.

The chapter begins with “Comfort, comfort My people” (v. 1) and continues with a series of questions about God's greatness: who measured the waters, who weighed the mountains, to whom He can be compared. All of this prepares the answer to a specific complaint, recorded in v. 27. The people felt that God did not see their way. The much-quoted v. 31 is the conclusion of this argument, not a stand-alone motivational line.

What the text says

Reflection

There is a kind of tiredness that sleep does not fix. It is the weariness of someone who has prayed, waited and seen no change. That is how the people of Isaiah 40 felt. The complaint in v. 27 sounds almost like an accusation: God does not see my way, and the justice owed to me has been ignored. The prophet does not rebuke the question. He takes it seriously and answers with a long lesson on who God is.

Notice the order of the argument. Before speaking about the people's strength, the text speaks about God's strength. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, calls each star by name and, because of His great power, “not one of them is missing” (v. 26). If God does not lose a single star, He has not lost track of your way. And He “will not grow tired or weary.” Our weariness is real, but it is not a portrait of God. We often project onto heaven the exhaustion we feel on earth.

Then comes the contrast of v. 30: even youths grow tired and weary. Youth, talent and discipline all have limits. The promise of v. 31 is not made to the strongest, but to those who wait upon the LORD. In Hebrew, the word translated wait carries the idea of waiting with expectation, turned toward someone. And the verb translated renew has the sense of exchanging, like trading a worn-out garment for a new one. Waiting on God, then, is not standing still. It is handing over your spent strength and receiving strength from another source.

Notice also the final sequence: mounting up with wings, running, walking. It looks like a ladder in reverse, but it may be the most honest part of the verse. There are days for soaring, and they are few. There are days for running. And there are many days when victory is simply to walk and not faint. The promise reaches that slow, ordinary step too. It does not guarantee that the situation will change tomorrow, but it affirms that those who wait upon the LORD do not walk alone or with only their own resources.

The Gospels show that the voice of v. 3 prepared the way for Jesus (Matthew 3:3). In Him, the God who does not grow tired came near to the weary and called them to Himself (Matthew 11:28). If today all you can do is walk, walk with your eyes on Him. Waiting, lived this way, stops being wasted time and becomes a place of exchange: your weariness for the strength that comes from the LORD.

Connections

To apply

For your journal: Where am I trying to keep going on my own strength alone, and what would it mean, in practice, to wait upon the LORD in that area?

Prayer

LORD, everlasting God, You do not grow tired or weary. You call each star by name, and not one of them is missing. I worship You for Your strength and Your care. I confess that I have thought my way was hidden from You, and that I have tried to go on with only what I have. I give You my weariness. Give me power when I am faint, and teach me to wait upon You with trust, whether to soar, to run, or just to walk today without fainting. In Jesus' name. Amen.

To memorize: Isaiah 40:31
Today's step: In the next 24 hours, identify one task you are carrying alone, pray about it, and ask a trusted person for concrete help.

To go deeper: read Isaiah 40 and get to know Isaiah.

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