Do you ever feel weary, discouraged, or overwhelmed by life’s challenges? Isaiah 40:31 offers a wonderful promise of renewed strength for those who wait on the Lord. God doesn’t promise that every difficulty will disappear, but He does promise that we can depend on His strength to sustain us through every season of life.
Isaiah 40:31 is one of the most beloved promises in Scripture because it speaks to people who are weary, discouraged, and waiting on God.
But those who wait on 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 40:31 (NKJV)
“This promise reveals several important truths about trusting God.”
1. Those who wait on the Lord…
Waiting does not mean doing nothing. In the Hebrew, the idea is to hope in, trust, or confidently expect the Lord. It is the posture of someone who has placed their future in God’s hands. Isaiah is writing to people who would eventually experience exile and hardship. God’s message is that while human strength fades, His strength never does (Isaiah 40:28). Waiting on Him means relying on His character rather than our own resources.
2. Shall renew their strength.
The word renew carries the idea of exchanging strength. We exchange our weakness for God’s strength. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every circumstance changes immediately, but God gives fresh grace to endure and continue. This echoes what the Apostle Paul later discovered: My grace is sufficient for you, for your strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) God often doesn’t remove our weakness first—He meets us in the midst of it.
3. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.
The eagle is a picture of strength, vision, and soaring above the
storm. Eagles don’t simply flap harder during turbulent winds; they use the rising currents to lift them higher. Likewise, believers don’t escape life’s storms or its effects – but God enables them to rise above being controlled by them. He gives an eternal perspective that allows us to see beyond present difficulties.
4. They shall run and not be weary…
They shall walk and not faint. Notice the order: Soaring, Running, Walking. Many people expect the Christian life to consist mostly of mountaintop experiences. Yet Isaiah ends with walking.
Walking is the ordinary rhythm of daily faithfulness. Most of life isn’t spent soaring spiritually- it’s spent taking one faithful step after another. God’s promise is that He will sustain us through the ordinary as well as the extraordinary.
May we be a people who refuse to trust in our own strength, but who daily wait upon the Lord.
When we are weary, may He renew us. When the path is steep, may He lift us. When the race is long, may He sustain us. And when life settles into the ordinary rhythm of walking, may we find that His grace is sufficient for every step.
Good News Only! OUR GOD IS A BIG GOD!!!
Blessings! Gerry
