SEPTEMBER THEME — “SEEING THE CROSS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”
BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART
THEY SHALL WALK, AND NOT FAINT
ISAIAH 40:31, “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.”
We often celebrate the moments when God causes us to “mount up with wings as eagles.” We rejoice when He gives us strength to “run, and not be weary.” But much of the Christian life is not soaring and it is not running. Much of the Christian life is simply walking faithfully with God one day at a time. There are seasons when nothing dramatic seems to happen. The prayer has not yet been answered. The situation has not changed. There has been no sudden miracle, no obvious breakthrough, and no visible evidence that God is working. Yet Isaiah says that those who wait upon the Lord will receive strength to “walk, and not faint.” Sometimes the greatest evidence of God’s sustaining grace is not that you soared over the problem, but that after weeks, months, or even years of waiting, you are still walking with Him. The deepest faith is often formed not in the moments when God changes the situation, but in the days when He changes us while the situation remains the same.
GOD GIVES STRENGTH FOR THE NEXT STEP
God does not always show us the entire road ahead. Often He simply gives us enough light and enough grace for the next step. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” A lamp does not necessarily illuminate miles ahead; it gives enough light to keep moving forward. When you are waiting on God, you may desperately want to know how everything is going to work out. You want to know when the prayer will be answered, how the relationship will be restored, what the doctor will say, where the provision will come from, or when the burden will finally lift. But God may not give you tomorrow’s answers today. Instead, He says, “Walk with Me today.” Pray today. Obey today. Trust today. Worship today. Stay in His Word today. You do not need strength today for everything you may face next month. You need God’s grace for the step that is in front of you right now. When tomorrow comes, there will be fresh grace waiting for you there. God rarely gives us grace for an imaginary future; He gives us grace for the present step of obedience.
FAITHFUL WALKING IS JUST AS SPIRITUAL AS SOARING
There are times when God gives extraordinary victories, but there are also times when He gives ordinary endurance. We naturally notice the dramatic moments—the Red Sea opening, Goliath falling, Lazarus walking out of the grave—but between those miracles were long periods of ordinary faithfulness. Abraham walked with God for years while waiting for the promised son. Joseph remained faithful through years of slavery and imprisonment. David spent years fleeing Saul before sitting upon the throne. Their faith was not demonstrated only in the moment of breakthrough; it was demonstrated in all the days when they simply kept walking. Do not underestimate what God is doing in you during an ordinary day of obedience. If you prayed when you felt discouraged, you walked. If you opened your Bible when you felt spiritually dry, you walked. If you worshiped while your circumstances remained unchanged, you walked. If you chose faith instead of fear, you walked. God is building something in you during the walk that could never be produced by the mountaintop alone. Heaven measures faithfulness not only by spectacular victories, but by quiet obedience repeated when no one else sees.
WHEN YOUR STRENGTH ENDS, HIS STRENGTH CONTINUES
Isaiah does not say that those who wait upon the Lord will never become physically, emotionally, or spiritually tired. The promise is deeper than that. When your strength begins to fail, God supplies strength that does not originate from you. Paul learned this when the Lord told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Waiting has a way of exposing the limits of our own strength. Eventually we reach the place where determination is not enough, positive thinking is not enough, and human ability is not enough. That is often where we discover the secret of the exchanged life: Not I—but Christ. The Christian life was never intended to be lived by your strength alone. When you whisper, “Lord, I cannot keep doing this by myself,” heaven does not consider that failure. That confession may actually become the doorway into deeper dependence upon Christ. God is not asking you to manufacture enough strength to finish the journey. He is asking you to lean upon the One whose strength never runs out. Sometimes God allows our strength to run out so we can finally discover that His strength was meant to carry us all along.
Imagine a small child walking a long trail with his father. At first the child is full of energy. He runs ahead, explores everything around him, and believes he can walk forever. But after several miles, his steps begin to slow. His legs hurt, his energy disappears, and finally he looks up at his father and says, “Daddy, I don’t think I can make it.” The father does not become angry or disappointed. He reaches down, takes the child by the hand, and says, “Then hold on to me. We’ll keep going together.” The child’s strength has changed, but the father’s strength has not. That is what waiting on the Lord often looks like. There will be days when you feel strong enough to run and moments when it seems as though you are soaring, but there will also be days when all you can do is put one foot in front of the other. On those days, hold tightly to your Father’s hand. You may feel weak, but He is not. The safety of the journey does not depend on the strength of the child’s grip nearly as much as it depends on the strength of the Father’s hand.
Perhaps today you are not soaring. Maybe you are not even running. Maybe you are simply trying to make it through another day while waiting for God to answer a prayer that has been on your heart for a long time. Do not despise the walk. Every faithful step matters. Keep praying. Keep believing. Keep obeying. Keep worshiping. Keep feeding your faith with the promises of God. When you feel yourself beginning to faint, remember that the promise is not that your strength will always be enough. The promise is that those who wait upon the Lord “shall renew their strength.” You do not have to finish tomorrow’s journey today. Just take the next step with Jesus, and then another, and then another. One day you may look back over the road you have traveled and realize, “God carried me farther than I ever thought I could go.” Faith does not always know how the road will end; it simply knows Who is walking beside it.
WARFARE PRAYER
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I come before You confessing that my strength is not enough for this journey. There are moments when I become weary, discouraged, and tempted to give up, but Your Word declares that those who wait upon You shall renew their strength and shall walk and not faint. I resist every voice of the enemy that tells me nothing is happening, that my prayers are useless, that You have forgotten me, or that I should quit before the answer comes. Satan, you will not steal my faith during the waiting. You will not fill my mind with fear, bitterness, unbelief, or hopelessness. In the name of Jesus, I choose to stand upon the promises of God rather than the appearance of my circumstances. Lord, strengthen my heart when I am weary. Guard my mind when I am discouraged. Help me worship when I do not understand, obey when I cannot see the outcome, and keep walking when I do not feel strong. I declare that God is faithful, God is with me, God has not forgotten me, and God is working even when I cannot see Him working. Through the life of Christ within me, I will keep walking—not in my strength, not by my ability, but Not I—but Christ. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen. The enemy may attack my endurance, but he cannot cancel the faithfulness of the God who sustains me.
DAILY CHALLENGE
Today, identify one area of your life where you are tempted to become weary and quit. Write Isaiah 40:31 beside it and remind yourself throughout the day, “I do not have to see the entire road. I only have to take the next step with God.” Then take one practical step of faith. Pray again about the need. Obey something God has already shown you. Read and claim one promise from Scripture. Worship God before the circumstances change. Encourage someone else who is also waiting. Today’s goal is not to solve everything or understand everything. Today’s goal is simply to keep walking with Jesus. One faithful step today may become the very step that keeps you from quitting just before God’s next chapter unfolds.
FRIDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS
Rose Fuller-Chronic Back Pain
Paula Ferus – Hip Replacement
Britany Smith
Darlene Kelley
Darlene Thaxton
Ginny Ford
Susan Bankston
Kim’s McClain’s Mother & Sister
Rob Davis