“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
Beloved, this verse is often printed over pictures of soaring eagles. But it was first written for people who were exhausted.
Comfort for a tired people
Isaiah 40 opens with “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” From this chapter on, the book speaks to God’s people in a season of exile and loss, far from home and wondering whether God had seen what happened to them.
Verse 27 says it out loud: “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?” In other words: God has lost track of me. He does not see what I am going through.
The answer comes in the next verse: “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?” The God they thought had forgotten them is the One who never runs out of strength.
Even the young grow tired
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall” (verses 29–30).
This is honest. Human strength runs out, even at its best. Being tired is not a failure of faith. The promise is not that you will never be weary. It is that there is a source of strength outside yourself.
What “wait upon the LORD” means
Waiting here is not sitting still with nothing to do. The Hebrew word, qavah, means to wait with expectation, to look eagerly towards someone. A related word, tiqvah, can mean both “hope” and “cord” or “line,” as in the scarlet line Rahab tied in her window (Joshua 2:18). To wait on the Lord is to hold on to Him with hope, like holding a rope.
And those who do, “shall renew their strength.” The word for renew carries the idea of exchanging: trading our tired strength for His.
Flying, running, walking
Notice the order: mount up with wings, run, walk. It seems backwards. Surely flying is the greatest miracle?
But most of life is not lived soaring. It is lived walking: getting up, doing the next thing, caring for people, going to work, keeping going. To walk and not faint, day after ordinary day, may be the greatest strength of all. God promises strength for the high moments and for the long, quiet miles.
If you are running on empty
- Tell God plainly that you are tired. Verse 27 shows it is safe to be honest with Him.
- Read Isaiah 40:27–31 every morning this week.
- Ask: where am I trying to fly when today I just need strength to walk?
- Choose one small thing to put down this week so you have room to rest.
A prayer
Everlasting God, You do not faint and You are never weary. I am. I bring You my tiredness and I choose to wait on You with hope. Exchange my strength for Yours. Help me to rise when I need to rise, to run when I need to run, and on ordinary days, to walk and not faint. Amen.
Wear the verse
Our Renewed Strength design comes as a t-shirt, a hoodie and a polo.
Read next: Strength and Honour Are Her Clothing: Proverbs 31:25
Also read: With God All Things Are Possible: the meaning of Matthew 19:26
