Lord, You have already given us the greatest gift. Your Son. Without Him, we are dead in our sins, lost forever, but with Him, we are alive for eternity, forever in Your arms. Thank you for Your most precious gift, the redeemer of our souls. We ask that You always give us the strength to keep our eyes on Jesus.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Day 30
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
—Isaiah 40: 29-31(NIV)
We have all been weary, and there are times in everyone’s life when they are weak. What great news to hear that the Lord freely gives strength and increases power. It might feel as if you’re more familiar with the weariness and the weakness, but the Lord is here to help you bear it and power through it with His supernatural intervention. In the above verses, Isaiah acknowledges that these things happen to even the youngest and the fittest. They can befall us all. But, he says, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. The Lord is freely replenishing what you have run out of. Not only will you rise higher once again, you will soar on wings like eagles.
The eagle can glide while catching an air current, allowing it to elevate to new heights without having to flail or labor. It trusts the wind to take it to the heights it was destined to roam. The stronger the wind blows—the stronger the gust, the higher it will travel. Maybe the Lord is telling us something about the adversity coming our way. The storms of life that bring the howling winds of change, of chaos— maybe it’s those winds that are needed to propel us to the height we were destined to be all along.
Lord, thank you for lifting us higher with the wind of Your love. Thank you for molding us within the storm into the people You want us to be. All of our hope is in You. Thank you for moving through us with Your power and strength.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Day 31
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 (NIV)
Life can feel overwhelming—impossible even—leaving us to feel stuck, immobile, and helpless—and sometimes all of those things daily. The Bible teaches that the Lord has a good plan for each of our lives (Jeremiah 29:11) and that He cares for those in trouble (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). The Lord is able and willing to aid us in our darkest hour. He is truly the beacon of light, the strong arm that pulls us out of the pit.
Give God your tough situations, give Him the easy ones, give Him all. He has us in mind, and He has a plan for us that is so great it is baffling to the human mind, that requires divine intervention, that leads to the right place and the right time. He is interested in your circumstances because He is especially interested in you. His greatest desire is to make us like Jesus, for us to be Jesus to others. In the end, we will all live with Jesus for all eternity and not much of this will matter. Perhaps the quickest way out of the pit, and a foolproof way of not falling back into it, is to place our minds on heavenly things, one hundred percent focused on our Savior, and looking at this life through the lens of Jesus Himself.
Lord, thank you for caring for, for calling us Your children. What an honor it is to be a child of the King, the creator of the universe, the one true living God. Who have we but You? Who cares more for us than You? You sacrificed Your own child so we may know eternal and abundant life. We humble ourselves before the throne with gratitude, open hearts, and open minds for the wonderful plans You have for us. Thank you for Your never-ending mercy, favor, and beautiful grace.
In Jesus’ mighty name,
Amen
Hope
I hope you enjoyed the devotional and that it has renewed and refreshed your spirit. Here are a few final chapters concerning the storms of life and journeying through them with unstoppable hope.
I’m a bottom line kind of girl. Tell me what I need to know in three sentences or less, a sound bite of no more than fifteen seconds. I want answers and I want them now. Life doesn’t always operate on my terms, so seeking out patience always seems on order. But for the sake of the topic at hand, let’s get right down to brass tacks. Jesus tells us in the Bible that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV) Some days it feels as if I’m far more
