Hope and Strength

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:29-31 (NASB) I think today I'm a bit lethargic. Maybe it's the gloom. Maybe it's the fact that I slept decently when I slept, but was awakened multiple times thanks to kids, cats, storms, and a weather radio (which eventually was turned off!). Maybe it's because we have a different and busy Sunday ahead of us, and I'm trying to gear up for it. Whatever the case, I struggled through my devotional time, had to work hard to focus in prayer, and have just felt tired this morning. I opened my prayer calendar and saw Isaiah 40:29-31 listed as the first passage for prayer and praise today! How appropriate is that! This has long been one of my favorite passages, alone with much of Philippians 4. Even as I have sat here munching on some breakfast and typing this post, I have felt Him renew my strength. I feel less tired and more ready to face the day. My hope cannot be founded on how well I slept, whether or not the sun is shining, or what the day's schedule looks like. It can't be founded on the condition of my heart and mind. Even in those times when nothing profound jumps out at me from Scripture and I seem to drag through my time with the Lord, I cannot let my hope be lost. Hope has to be based on the fact that I can have complete and perfect peace in my Lord and Savior. He is my rock, no matter what my environment or mental condition. And when I hope in Him, my strength is restored. Thank You, Lord!

Doing His Pleasure

If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14 (NASB) Where is my delight? Is there anything - any particular day, event, or action - that turns my foot from doing my own pleasure and turns me instead to calling the things of God a delight? I am so frequently caught up in my own pleasure, and my pleasure is so minuscule and blah compared to what the Lord has to offer. Maybe delighting in Him will begin by honoring Him on Sundays, but then it should expand into every moment of every day of my life. My choices in everything from child-rearing to entertainment to possessions to activities should revolve around delighting in my God and choosing His pleasure over my own.

Active Fasting

It still amazes me that I can reread verses, passages, and even whole chapters of Scripture that I've read dozens of times and still suddenly see them as if for the first time. Isaiah 58 struck me that way today. Much of the chapter is about fasting, and it gives some very specific ideas about fasting. I've always been led to understand that fasting is to be a time when I set aside eating in favor of intensive prayer. "Whenever you get hungry, let that remind you to pray!" So, that's what I've always done. Isaiah 58 sheds a very different light on fasting. The first verses show God's children crying out wondering why He does not hear them in their fasting. Then He points out that they are fasting in their way, not His! Then we read... Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58:6-7 (NASB) This paints the picture of a very active fasting. Not a holing up inside our homes to be in our prayer closets, but a dispersal of our resources and energies to minister to the needs of the others instead of our own. The rewards outlined in the rest of the chapter for fasting in this way are amazing! I'm really pretty self-centered in many ways, I'm realizing. And fasting is one of those ways. I fast to clear my mind to hear from the Lord. Scripturally, I am called to fast to clear my selfish obligations to make myself more available to minister to others. It's not about me!!! Wow, will I ever truly get that concept ingrained in every aspect of my life? I know one thing for sure - I am determined to actively work toward that goal.