Strength for Today

He pushed off with one foot and jumped on the back of the grocery cart. As he came zipping through the parking lot he realized that I was watching him. He broke into a slow smile. Then we both began to laugh out loud as he continued his ride to his car with his head held high. His grey hair and suit didn’t match his actions, but I understood.

            Don’t you wish you could go to the library, and renew yourself instead of your book. You can’t do that, but you can be renewed.

            God has a wonderful renewal plan. Even through youth get tired and quit you don’t have to do that according to Isaiah 40. You can actually ascend like an eagle, run like an athlete, and walk through your every day commitments and not collapse.

            All he asks is that you show up for his invigorating infusion. Isaiah says that when you wait upon the Lord He will renew your strength. So what does wait mean? Are we to sit until he shows up? Do we rest and let him do it all? Or do we wait on him like a waitress waits on a customer? Our English minds translate wait many different ways.

            However, wait in Strong’s concordance comes from a root that means to bind together by twisting. We are not to sit and do nothing. We need to closely interact with him in order to renew our strength. Perhaps the example of the waitress is closer to the meaning. We seek his face and ask him about his desires. We wrap ourselves up in him. 

            Let's try it. Who knows? Maybe, the next time we go to the grocery store we may feel the urge to jump on the back of the cart and push off.

Isaiah 40:29,31  "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might he increases strength...those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength."