Do you love to be efficient and strong?
…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 40:31
Gracious Lord,
I remember memorizing this verse
as an achievement-oriented high school student,
a fifteen-year-old eager to renew my strength
and to run and not be weary.
It’s easy to see now how I misunderstood
what this verse meant,
but I confess, in our achievement-oriented,
efficiency-seeking society,
it’s not always easy to remember
that the gospel isn’t about strength,
accomplishment,
or efficiency.
Indeed, you were speaking to the Israelites in exile
in these verses,
assuring them in the midst of their frailty,
in the aftermath of their sinful rebellion,
that you would send a Savior:
“Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her that her warfare has ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned” (Isaiah 40:1).
Patient and merciful God,
help us to see that in our weakness,
you alone are our strength;
that in our idol of efficiency,
you alone are our salvation.
Help us to learn to wait on you,
to watch to see
what you are doing in our lives
and in this world
through the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’ perfectly sufficient name. Amen.
Read Isaiah 40.
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