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
We all need renewed strength, right? The challenges of life and the relentless attacks of the enemy wear us down. The thought of soaring above it all is very appealing! But what does it really mean to wait upon the Lord?
When translating the Hebrew word qavah into English, most translators go with the figurative meaning and use the word, “wait”, giving the idea of enduring, or “hope in”, or “trust in.” While we certainly find renewed strength when we place our trust and hope in the Lord and wait expectantly for His intervention, there is also a literal meaning of qavah that sheds new light on this familiar verse.
Qavah literally means to bind together, perhaps by twisting, like when cords are twisted together to make a rope. Think about the strength that comes with that process. You could easily break off a strand of hair simply by giving it a strong pull but once that hair is braided, there’s no way it can be broken! String is the same way. By itself, you can easily break one piece of string but when it’s twisted with several others it can make a rope strong enough to pull a bus! Why? Because to break one, you’d have to break all.
So Isaiah tells us to bind ourselves together with the Lord, to be so interconnected with Him that you can’t be broken because He can’t be broken! You benefit from His strength!
Next time you are near a rope, try to pull out just one strand of string and you’ll find it’s nearly impossible because all the strands are tightly twisted together. That’s how connected we should be to God, so intertwined that we cannot be separated. What effects one, effects the other! To break one, you’d have to break both. Do you think any of the pressures you face today are strong enough to break God? Of course not. Is your life so wrapped around Him that you cannot be broken either?
If you are feeling weary and your strength is fading away, I challenge you to get more connected to God. As your life gets intertwined with His you will find renewed strength and energy. You will begin to soar above all the pressures of life and all the attacks of the enemy!