What a delightful title! So comforting to our souls isn’t it? Well it will be in just a moment. Have you read this familiar verse before?:
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 KJV
It’s a classic. The thought of flying like an eagle, running and not growing tired, and walking without fainting is refreshing. But what really caught my attention this time around was the verse before:
“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:”
Isaiah 40:30 KJV
Why did it grab my attention? Because it has this launching effect into the next verse. Verse 30 makes us uncomfortable, convicted, and weak and so verse 31 comes swooping in with all its beauty and comfort to tell us that God is our strength.
You Will Utterly Fall
It’s just like the need for someone to understand they are a sinner to genuinely believe (and turn to) Christ. How can one repent and turn if they know not what they are repenting of? What fear is there in hell if someone thinks they are good enough not to go there? So what joy is in Verse 31 if I still think I have strength as a “young man”? God knows our pattern as humans to rely on anything but Him for strength. So He inspires Isaiah to write verse 30 to shut out all confidence in man’s strength.
I’m thinking of a 28-30 year old. The peak of their strength, super athlete, handsome, brain fully developed, no aches or pains, clear skin, working bones, etc. By human standards that is the best we can come up with (strength speaking) so God looks at that and says: “Yes, even that will utterly fall.” You hear so many saying: “Oh if you could see me in my twenties!” or “Maybe if I was in my twenties I could do that” revealing our thinking that young means strong and capable. God laughs at this. Yes, they might be able to lift more, run faster, and stay awake longer, but the Bible is clear on this point: they shall “utterly fall”.
God’s Strength
It is only when we come to the end of our human ability that we find Verse 31 of such comfort. For others it may be easier, maybe you are no longer a “young man” and you are saying: “I need all the help I can get!” But I warn you, I see lots of older men boasting in their strength, ability, and wisdom. I care not how old, how young, how weak, how strong, you are or you may think you are. I have one thing to tell you: without Christ you can do nothing.
Humans can accomplish nothing in and of themselves (Matt 19:26). You can put the strongest, smartest, and most experienced people in the world together and they will produce nothing but filthy rags (Is 64:6). But take one person who is willing to wait on God to renew their strength and that is enough to change the World. It could be a 9 year old or a 98 year old and it matters not. What matters is this: Will you wait on Him? You have to get to the point of genuinely understanding and believing that in you dwells no good thing (Rom 7:18). Heed the words of Jesus: “without Me ye can do nothing.” Anything you start in your own strength, with your own wisdom, and with your own understanding is sure to have one end: “utterly fall”
As Paul Washer puts it: “Your problem is not that you’re so weak, your problem is; you think you’re strong… Our problem is not that we are too weak. Our problem is that we do not recognize our weakness. Do you see that? That’s why the greatest men and women that have been most used of God throughout Christian history seem to have only one thing in common, a recognition of their weakness.”
Action
- Praise God that in Him is all the strength we will ever need.
- Confess to God how you have looked to yourself or others for strength instead of Him
- Ask God to reveal to you your weakness and show you His strength
- Read this post’s song: Just a Closer Walk With Thee