“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” Isaiah 40:31
Dear Ones:
The context of the entire chapter 40 of Isaiah deals with the word of comfort, and consolation, by God to Israel. Israel had provided God with almost every conceivable reason for Him to bring judgement upon the nation. But there came a limit to this “measured judgement,” by His declaration: “…her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (40:2) It is the gracious and merciful heart of God which will now give Israel a new beginning. However, there is a problem. It has to do with wounds, scars, remembrance of failure, and perhaps the fear of falling again. How is the message of consolation to be applied to these needs? What is essential to Israel rising from the dust, shaking herself, eventually…breaking forth into joy, and singing together? It is the issue of “strength,” the power given by God to the individual heart, and that of the nation, to hope again, to believe again, to obey again. It is essential for Israel to see, and to know, that God’s ever-present strength is not only available to her, but hers if she will believe, waiting upon Him for it. Hence, we read the most affirmative words to her: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
Since the fall of man, there has been an essential need for the soul and spirit of man to be strengthened by God. When the Lord speaks to the seven churches of the Revelation, addressing the issue overcoming, He is speaking of a strength that is given by God, and received and experienced by men. Though David in the Old Testament had great gifts and capacities, he had to learn the essential of knowing and experiencing “another strength” than his own. It is for this reason that he would write: “The LORD is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1) If ever there were two examples of men who had to learn of God’s strength to men, it was Paul and Peter. Paul would declare the stark reality of “powerlessness” in Romans 7 by saying, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (v.24) Here is a man devoid of power in and of himself, before the principle and power of sin. Peter would blatantly deny the Lord Jesus three times, after affirming to Him before the other disciples that he was willing to give his life for Him. Here is a man also devoid of power, power to BE faithful. What then is the teaching on power and strength, as it pertains to the believer?
It all begins with a question: “From which fountain do we drink to live, from Christ or from men?” Paul’s grasp of the gospel reveals to us that central, and basic, to our understanding of this matter is the teaching of the cross and the resurrection. The cross declares to us that God’s will is NOT for us to trust in ourselves, but in Christ alone. The cross declares that we have DIED to the old way, the independent way of living, that of living by faith in ourselves, or in men. The resurrection declares that, by virtue of the believer having been put “INTO CHRIST” (1 Cor. 1:30), we are now one with Him, a “new man,” or “new creation.” In that new relationship with God, in union with Christ, HE has become our life…and strength. There is therefore NOW, no moment when He ceases to be such to us, for we are inseparably one with Him. It is only our lack of faith in the faithfulness of God, our ceasing to “wait upon the Lord,” which hinders us from knowing His strength. We have all in Christ, every measure of strength for every need. Ours is to receive it by faith in His faithfulness.
Dear Father, enable us to live by THY strength…increasingly. Grant us that blessed discipline of mind and heart whereby we turn to the reality of Your presence with us by the Spirit, to derive ALL from Christ. Give us grace to “wait” truly, and wholly upon Thee for that “power of the resurrection” to be realized in us on a daily, even a moment by moment, basis for Thy sake and glory. We thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad