Our theme verse this year talks about the importance of trusting in our Lord. Isaiah 40:31, “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. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust (wait) 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.”
Isaiah tells us that those who depend on God will be renewed. He will move in our lives, but we must learn to wait. Waiting is hard. When we get in a line at the store, we choose the shortest line only to discover that the person in front of us grabbed a product that needed to have a price check. We switch lines and the old line we left starts to move faster than the new line we are now standing in. In recovery and life in general, we have a hard time being patient. We have a habit of agonizing over things that we cannot control. Worrying never alleviated a pain, turned a wrong into a right, or removed suffering from our lives. Worrying and fretting never help; they only compound our problems.
If anyone had the right to get weary, it would be God. But, he doesn’t give up on us even when we try to take control of our lives. When we suffer the consequences of making wrong and hurtful decisions, we become impatient and want to give up. Notice in this verse that God is a constant. He is always reaching down to pick us up, but we must choose to grab his hand and allow him to give us strength when we are powerless. When we learn to trust him, he will give us a new strength that will help us soar high above the problems of life. He will lift us up above our fears and inner turmoil to a life of peace and serenity. The question is, “Do we want to continue a life scratching with the chickens?” Or, “Do we want to soar with the eagles?” May God bless us as we learn to wait upon the Lord.
