Lent - Part 5

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV). Have you seen the television commercial where the scene opens with a family getting ready for work and school? Dad comes down to the breakfast table and Mom is serving stacks of pancakes with all the trimmings. The children are leisurely getting ready for a quite breakfast before the day starts and then the scene abruptly changes and you are taken to a chaotic scene where everyone is in a rush and no one seems to be able to get off on time. The insinuation is that the latter scene is much more the norm and the first scene. And, in most families that would probably hold true. Perhaps it is in yours. Each morning as we rush off to school or work, we always seem to run a little late, but we usually vow to get up a little earlier the next morning. Most of us at least think about getting up a little earlier to walk outside, take a breath of fresh air, watch the birds searching the yard for their breakfast, or just take in the beauty of nature. However, even though the alarm might ring earlier the next morning and we take the time to observe God’s morning blessings, we still find ourselves rushing through the remainder of the day, and by evening we are exhausted again. It seems to be our way of life. From a human perspective, we cannot imagine the energy and strength that God must have had to create the oceans, the trees, the animals, this place called earth, and us humans. To have done all of these acts and not grown tired is incomprehensible to us. God’s strength is unlimited, and the amazing thing is His strength is available to us. As adults we frequently feel a lack of strength and energy. Sometimes in observing children, we often wish that we possessed their level of energy. The fact is that, yes, children are energetic, but eventually even they grow tired. Not one of us can have unlimited strength and energy, that is, not one without God’s strength. Without His help we are like a single battery, which will eventually lose power, but with His strength we become a recharged battery with Him acting as our re-charger. In the last verses of Isaiah 40, the Bible says those who walk with the Lord will soar on wings like eagles, will run and not grow weary, and will walk and not be faint. Each night as we lie down to sleep and pray, God plugs in our re-charger, to charge us full of his power for the next day. The best thing is that God is watching over us twenty-four hours a day, and if our battery starts to fade, he has already plugged us in. Use this time of Lent to realize what you have, not what you should give up. After all, he already has it all; and, we need it all!