This year we’re collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Lent, the 40-day period prior to Easter. Find this series also published by UC Berkeley’s TAUG and Cornell’s Claritas.
“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, ESV)
Isaiah 40 speaks to a people in exile. Isaiah offers comfort to a distraught people, ending with an assurance of faith. Except this is not your typical motivational speech that speaks to each person’s strengths. He doesn’t highlight their individual power or say that they are capable of more than they think. It seems counterintuitive when, in the midst of suffering, Isaiah doesn’t tell the people that they are strong, but rather that they will faint, grow weary, and fall into exhaustion.
Though we may not live in exile, we can often feel this same fatigue. School may make us grow weary, relationships can at times feel exhausting, and the daunting uncertainties of life can make even the strongest feel faint. However, Isaiah doesn’t end with simply acknowledging the frailty of the human condition; he ends with the surety of the Lord’s power. He reminds the people of Israel how time and time again God’s saving power has come through for them. He is both the kind shepherd who cares for his flock, and the Sovereign Lord who rules with a mighty hand.
Isaiah says all who trust and put their strength in the Lord will soar on wings of eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint. Oftentimes we put ourselves into exile, allowing our troubles to pull us away from God. Countless times I find the stress of the To Do List pulling me further from Him instead of forcing me to lean on Him. I find that the beauty of this verse lies in the truth that we have to do nothing. To attain this promise of flight and strength, we don’t have to strive to be perfect; we only need to fall into the trusting care of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
To echo the words of C.S. Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia, “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight…when he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” The everlasting promise of God gives Christians the power to live out every day not defined solely by their present circumstances, but by a God who will make all things right. Though in the midst of the battle it may seem hopeless, as Christians we have the blessing to know Aslan is on the move.
Father God, thank you for your mercies that are new every morning. Thank you that every promise in your word is yes and amen. Thank you that even when there is unrest or times of doubt you are ever present, walking with us. Help us to trust that you are good and that your words will never return empty. Help us to hold fast to you in the midst of trouble and live as a people redeemed. Each and every day help us to walk out in faith that you are our unchanging Father who sustains us through all. Amen.
Jade Hernandez is a junior at Wheaton College. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Pub, an Augustine Collective member journal. Jade is an avid reader of all things from G.K. Chesterton to Roald Dahl and a dedicated lover of tea.
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