Daily Devotional · Isaiah 40:28–31
Those Who Hope in the Lord
Reflection
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 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." This passage follows immediately after the cosmic scope of Isaiah 40:12–27 — the incomparable greatness of God who weighs the mountains, marks off the heavens with a span, sits above the circle of the earth. And then the application: If God is that great, and He does not grow tired — then there is a resource available to the exhausted person that does not come from within themselves. The problem named is real: people grow tired. Even the young — "even youths grow tired and weary." The energy of human beings, however great, runs out. The youth who should have inexhaustible strength "stumbles and falls." The contrast is not youth versus old age. It is human energy versus divine energy. The person who draws from their own reserves will eventually run out. The person who waits on the Lord draws from a different source. "Wait" (Hebrew: qavah) means to hope, to expect, to look toward with anticipation. It is not passive inactivity — it is active orientation toward the source of strength. The three images of renewed strength are a descending sequence: soaring eagles (extraordinary capacity), running (sustained effort), walking (simple endurance). God's renewal enables all three — including the mundane.
Background
Isaiah 40:28–31 was a key passage for the early church in explaining the resurrection hope — the God who gives strength to the weary is the God who raised the dead. The eagle image was significant in antiquity as a symbol of divine renewal: Psalm 103:5 uses the same image ("your youth is renewed like the eagle's"). The connection between waiting on God and renewed strength was understood as experiential, not merely metaphorical.
Truth
When you are running on empty, the prescription is not more effort — it is more waiting. Waiting on God is not giving up; it is reorienting toward the only source of strength that does not run out. The strength that God gives does not require you to have something left; it requires only that you turn toward Him.
Application
Where are you currently running on empty — in your work, your ministry, your relationships, your faith? Stop trying to manufacture more capacity from within. Choose one specific act of waiting on God today: unhurried prayer, silent reading of Scripture, simply sitting in His presence without asking for anything. Let the source refill you.