Skip to main content

Renew Strength


               God promises that we can renew our strength like eagles in Isaiah 40:29-31.  He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.  My life is testing this promise.
               Balancing moving and downsizing, selling my home, preparing for a pilgrimage and holding down a full-time job, I have certainly been in need of strength.  Anyone could recognize this fact as they listen to me vocalize my list of things to do.  (The check-list for selling the home alone minus the move is enough to make my head spin.)  Yet here is where I find myself; it’s obvious that I am up against an impossible goal.  I’m embarrassed to say that it took me way too long to remember the truths of Isaiah 40.  It was in the midst of a conversation with a friend when she brought up this verse in response to the diatribe I offered after she asked me how I was.  She said, You are really living out Isaiah 40!
               In that moment, I awoke to the fact that what I had accomplished so far was because of God.  Somehow I was missing that important aspect while I rambled on and on about what I had done and what I still had to accomplish.  I hadn’t realized that I needed God already and that He had been keeping me from fainting, growing weary and falling flat on my face.  The fact that I was standing was an act of God’s mercy in my life.  I wasn’t asking Him to give me strength, keep me from falling or fainting, yet He just did it.  He did it for an ungrateful, unaware but dearly beloved daughter.  He did it because that is who He is.  He did it because He has the strength I need, and He wants to give it even if I fail to ask for it.
               Since then my list has grown more insurmountable.  I do not have a reasonable explanation for how I can accomplish all the tasks that are set before me.  Rather than waste my limited energy trying to figure it all out, I am learning to turn it over to God and walk with him through the tasks one by one.  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time is the answer.  When I take it a bite at a time, I realize that I do have strength.  I am weary for sure but I’m not fainting.  God has made room for my human side which needs a little debrief verbally from the craziness (usually with my husband, who lets me bubble over with the hope that it will come full circle to placing my hope in God again, or my friends and coworkers, who probably didn’t really need a full dissertation about how I am when they asked—yet they politely listen anyway). 
Today is Monday and I feel a renewed strength.  It was mandatory for me to take a day off from all the chores above on Sunday for my Sabbath rest.  Strength comes from God.  He knows we need help.  He wants us to be aware of this interdependency. The problem is that I cling to my independent state too firmly.  God asks a lot of me.  I ask a lot of myself, and together is the way to see that it is accomplished.  He is ever interdependent with me, even when I think I’m independent.  I’m grateful for my powerlessness, lack of strength and weariness because they reveal the omnipotent power of God funneled into my weak and weary life.  I am both in awe of Him and blessed by Him at the same time.
Copyright © 2016.  Deborah R Newman  teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.

               

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are cr...

Why Me?

              When something tragic or unexpected happens, our first question seems to be, Why me?   It’s only human to feel this way and wonder why life has got to be so hard.   God has helped me look at my unwanted circumstances with a different question.   Rather than keep the focus on my pain and ask, Why me?   I focus on Him and wonder, How can You be glorified when everything is going wrong?             Adding one more word to that question makes a huge difference spiritually and opens my soul to find so much more than just my pain.   Another way to look at life’s tragedies is, Why not me ?   Sure, we each have our own amount of personal sorrows. These are the kind of sorrows that have no answers.      We can't explain away death, cancer, rape, bankruptcy and other heartaches.   It is easier to explain...

Holy Saturday

Nothing is written about the events of Holy Saturday except Luke 23:56, “they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” These few words speak volumes about our life with Christ.   What was it like for these ladies to rest on the Sabbath?   They had watched carefully, they knew how quickly Jesus’ body was laid in the grave. The men had brought spices and linens, but they had little time to properly anoint this most precious of all bodies.   As the women watched carefully, they made mental note of the supplies that would be necessary to complete this sacred act of burial as it should be. They spent the last few hours before sunset to prepare the spices for this holy act of reverence. The Sabbath signaled the time for rest.   I’m sure they didn’t feel like resting, but by complying out of obedience they were probably served by its benefits.   Their minds racing from the horror they had just witnessed, at best they could allow their bodies to rest and ...