As I was driving to work today, I noticed a few encouraging things outside. The sun was shining brightly, the cold air felt like it was beginning to move out, and I even saw a few plants that were trying to bloom. It reminded me that winter is almost behind us, and spring is just around the corner. I love all of God’s seasons, but perhaps spring is the most refreshing of them all. Especially as Texans, we are always counting down the days to spring after a few winter months filled with cold temperatures and brown landscapes.
I think our nation is looking for brighter days in general as well. The war in Ukraine has left a dark cloud of fear and heartache over what is going to come next. Rising gas prices and inflation as a whole has all of us frustrated and anxious. Two years in a pandemic has left our country tired, and I think everyone is ready for more than just a spring season. We are ready for a new season in life. The good news is while we may be exhausted, our God is not tired. Isaiah reminds us, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to Him who has no might he increases strength (Isaiah 40:28-29). Our God does not grow weary. All of creation may groan (Romans 8:22), but our God never does. Instead He is steadfast in His sovereignty and resilient in His purposes. And fortunately for us, He is willing to share His strength with us. Isaiah continues, “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” (Isaiah 40:30-31).
God can bring a spring season into your life spiritually. The grass will turn green outside and the flowers will begin to bloom here shortly. But the Son could also shine into your heart this week if you let Him. Isaiah says all of us will grow weary at some point, but the Lord will renew our strength. He said the secret is we must wait on the Lord to receive that strength. Personally, I hate waiting. I don’t like waiting in lines at the store, I don’t like waiting for the oven to preheat, and I especially don’t like sitting in a waiting room at the doctor’s office. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t like waiting on the Lord either. This often leads us to search out quicker and lesser sources of strength. We look for renewal through our phones and televisions, and while they may distract us, they also drain us even further. We seek relief through food or substances, but we still feel empty even though we are filled up. We search for relief through money or experiences, but we still feel tired when the excitement wears down. That’s why Isaiah says we’d be much better suited to simply wait on the Lord.
When we patiently and intentionally pursue Jesus Christ, we discover that He’s always true to His promises. He does reward those who wait on Him. God wants each of us to mount up with wings like eagles, but the ticket to get us there is steadfast faith. It’s reading your Bible even on the days you don’t feel like it. It’s fighting to pray even when your mind is full of to-do lists. It’s serving in the church even when you think someone else could or should do it themselves. It’s going to church and worshipping even when it’d be easy to just stay in bed. It’s so important for each of us to worship Him in our wait because God can, and will, reward our faithful hearts with the spring that we all desire.
How can you be faithful to Him this week? Have you been searching for strength in all the wrong places? Rest assured that God wants to give power to the faint, but you have to plug into Him to receive it. My prayer for you this week is the same as the Apostle Paul’s: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Have a great week, spring your clock forward on Saturday night, and I look forward to worshipping with you on this Lord’s Supper Sunday.
Onward and upward,
Jonathan Spencer
www.jonathanspencer.org 