September 20 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Isaiah 40:21-31

²¹Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
²³That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
²⁴Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
²⁵To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
²⁷Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
²⁸Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
²⁹He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
³⁰Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
³¹But 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.

Devotional:

Some of us are at the point in life when 'the renewal of youth' expresses our precise need. How do we go about meeting this need?

Isaiah admits that at times, even God's people faint and become weary. We are at the point of falling, young and old alike. He assures us, however, that God does not faint or grow weary. Power and strength from His own being are poured out upon His people.

Sometimes we experience a mounting up with wings as eagles! God is so near that we feel we might even touch Him. Then it is easy for us to trust. Sometimes we run along amazingly and seem not to be weary at all. He is faithful and His mercies are renewed every morning. Even in dramatically severe times of testing we often are exhilarated and find strength for what seem to be impossible situations.

But what about walking and not growing faint? The day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month walking is what pulls us down. It is the commuting to work, the household chores, the sleepless nights when a baby cries, and the daily routine which varies very little, that sap our energy.

Here as always we need to take our eyes from self and from circumstances and lift them 'on high' (40:26). When we look to the Creator who is eternally a source of power we may draw from Him all that we need.

George Herbert has a beautiful way of putting this. We must look through the things that would distress us and see the God beyond, rather than fix our eyes on the things themselves:

A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye,
Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heaven espy.*

Lord, help us to see beyond the visible that would block You out. Give us the ability to see You. Then will our strength be renewed.

*(The Temple: The Elixir)