He gives power to the faint...

first decade, my knee put me on the shelf. During that time, I learned to enjoy road biking. And I still do. But my love has always been to run. There are a lot of reasons, but the number one reason will probably sound odd to you. I have actually never felt closer to God than when I run. Many of you tell me that same thing about your time on the water or in the woods. I get it, but my experience comes from running. I’ve never been much of a crier, but I’ve never cried more than when I run. I know. I know. Call me whatever, but it’s just the truth. Needless to say, you can imagine the day I had to quit running because of my knee. At that time, I had just left a position and had no health insurance. My knee problem was a quick fix but how to afford it was not. I sulked, got depressed, and even got mad at God. After all, the expenses involved around running was minimal, and I had such a good experience doing it, that I questioned why. When I was able, I had the knee repaired and began the process of recovery and return. During that time, I was never able to fully return to the miles I once put it. Recently, I have enjoyed more pain-free milage. I have also enjoyed the return of my spiritual closeness. The wait has been long. It always is. I think for most of us, it is the worst four-letter word in the English language. Wait. Ugh! What a disgusting word. And yet, it is perhaps God’s greatest tool for building trust. The prophet Isaiah wrote about waiting. He said this.

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. (Is 40:29-31 ESV)

He gives us some results of waiting. Sometimes the wait will result in soaring like eagles. We will move into new blessings where we will remain on top with very little effort. Other times, the end of our wait will be so full of goodness that we will feel like we could run forever, without getting tired. (I’ve done that a few times) But sometimes the initial results are simply that God will sustain you in the middle of the wait - when you feel your strength to take another step is gone. You will walk and not faint. Not soar. Not run. But simply walk.

Many of you are at this place right now. You are in the middle of the wait. The walk is hard. I pray you will lean into God one more day. Trust in him one more day. What He has for you will be worth the wait.