Good News for the Weary (a Devotional by Phil Nelson)

I’d like to share with you a  Bible verse devotional by my friend Phil: [Start of Devotional] Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV) 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope 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 be faint. Feeling tired, worn out, empty?  Want to give up and quit?  Before you do take a moment to read the text for today.  Consider the promise and who it is for. Who is it that will find strength from the Lord?  The one who is weary.  Who is it that will receive power to keep on going?  The one who is weak. All you have to do is live in this fallen world a little while and you will notice that it takes something superhuman to be able to face all the challenges of this life. It seems crazy to believe in a God who promises to have everything under his control and that it all will work out right in the end. Isaiah was writing to those who were in bondage in Babylon.  They had lost their homes and families and now found themselves in a foreign land with no possible way of ever getting back.  To make matters worse their own children were now being given foreign names of pagan deities and forced to learn the pagan customs in the public schools of Babylon.  How could all this even be ok with God?  Is he or is he not on the throne? Perhaps this finds you at a time when you have pretty much told God that if he does not come through you are done with this whole Christian thing.  Before you check out take a moment to think with me about what this text tells us. Sure there is enough to cause even the youth to grow tired and weary.  Even the young men in the prime of their life will not be able to stand against such a culture that is set against the very truths we profess.  Is this the end of the story? There is one great big but.  Thank God for the big but.  (My daughter Lydia would be laughing by now.)  Think with me for just one more short moment.  Those who, in the face of such insurmountable, impossible circumstances, refuse to give up their trust in the Lord will renew their strength.  It will happen as you turn once more to the Lord and cry out to him.  You will be lifted up on eagle’s wings to see things from God’s perspective yet again.  You will find a new energy to take up the race once more.  You will find a way to continue to walk in his way and not faint. How can you know this to be true? As you go back to God and place your faith in Him once again.  Trust in his promises and give him your doubts and fears and let him restore you as you meditate on these truths. See you in the skies on wings of Eagles Pastor phil [End of Devotional] ~Riley