Renewed Strength

                                           

                                                                                          

 "But those who hope in the Lord will renew
their strength. They will soar like eagles; 
they will run, they will walk and not be faint."
                    Isaiah 40:31

Hope, what do we mean by it? “In the Old Testament hope is expressed by several different words meaning ‘safety, security, trust.’”¹ In the King James version the passage says, ‘. . . those who wait . . . .’ As I see it we sometimes have to incorporate the act of waiting into our having hope.

Renew When we subscribe to a magazine for a period of time, as that time runs out we are asked to extend our subscription for another segment of time. We ask God to renew our strength when we find ourselves to be depleted of the ability to continue to move forward in a period of recovery.

Strength Sometimes strength can be defined as power^2. For some people, their strength wanes as they age. For the disciple of Christ the amount of strength we have can be based upon how close we are to Him. When we have an illness, our strength becomes sapped. Years ago, I had a sinus infection that reared its head. I stayed home from work a day or so and had to go back before I was actually ready. I felt like the salmon that swam upstream.

Soar to go through without effort. We marvel at birds floating through the air with wings spread. No prettier sight than to see an eagle move in the breeze with no apparent effort on his or her part. Isaiah tells us we can have this same experience—to soar through the issues that the world tosses at us, if we hope in the Lord.