When You Have Nothing Left, God Still Has Strength

Isaiah 40: 30-31 – “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young man shall fall exhausted; but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.”

The fortieth chapter of Isaiah marks a dramatic change in the prophets writings. Before this almost everything Isaiah says is declaring judgment and wrath on Israel and the surrounding nations because of their wickedness. It’s like God feels like they need a break, so to comfort the readers God prophecies the coming of John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Christ in verses 3-8.

Then God spends the rest of the chapter declaring to the readers the most wonderful and beautiful thing He knows—Himself.

God’s command is “Behold your God!” Stop what you’re doing and look at God! He has all power, but He is also tender and compassionate. No one and nothing can compare to the greatness of our God! He concludes the chapter with reminding us that He is the everlasting God, and that He is the creator of all things! He does not get tired or grow weary. He knows all things and His understanding is unsearchable! He is compassionate. He gives strength and power to those of His followers who are weak and falling.

That’s when He speaks the above quoted verse. The key verse for me in all this is the beginning of verse 31. “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.” This is written as a promise, or at the very least a spiritual principle. Like most of God’s promises there is a condition attached to it. The promise is that our strength (physical or spiritual) will be renewed. The condition is that we must “wait for the Lord”.

To wait for the Lord means to depend on or hope in God’s faithfulness to His children. This is not worldly hope, like ‘I hope so’. This is God’s definition of waiting or hoping. It is confident anticipation. We don’t know when God’s help will come, but we are absolutely confident that it will come at the right time. That kind of confident trust in God’s faithfulness to love us and keep His promises to us, strengthens our souls and gives us peace.

Whatever is sapping your strength today is not bigger than God. All He asks of us is to confidently wait, hope and trust in who God is for us and He will be there for us. God has not forgotten or abandon you—wait for Him and He will provide all the strength you need exactly when you need it.