Daily devotion – the weary plodder.
Isaiah 40: 28 Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Having spent a day with some of our grandchildren consisting of an early morning surf session – longer than usual, and then practically a full day swimming, this passage in the Bible details exactly how I ended up at the end of such a day – weak, tired, falling in exhaustion.
You and I can never obey God in our own strength because it is so brittle but we can always trust Him to provide the strength we need to face the battles and struggles of living for Him and His kingdom.
We face grave danger if we trust ourselves to cope, to have strength for the journey!
But when the prophet tells us that our strength comes from God by ‘waiting’ he is not suggesting that we simply sit around and do nothing. It means ‘to hope,’ to look to God for all that we need by praying, reading His Word and meditating on His character and His promises.
This ‘new strength’ or in other translations ‘renew’ means to exchange as in taking off old clothes and putting on new! That is we exchange our weakness for His power as we wait before Him.
William Carey, the father of modern missions said, “I can plod. That is my only genius. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.”
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The greatest heroes of faith are not always those who seem to be soaring; often it is they who are patiently plodding.
As you and I wait on the Lord, He enables us not only to fly higher and run faster, but also to walk longer!
Keep plodding for blessed are the plodders for they eventually arrive at their destination.