Those Who Wait on the Lord — Isaiah 40:28-31

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." — Isaiah 40:31

For a long time I misread this verse. I thought "wait on the Lord" meant passive waiting — sit around until God does something. But the Hebrew word "qavah" means to look eagerly, to gather strength, to bind together like twisted strands of rope. Waiting on God is not passive at all. It is an active, expectant dependence.

I experienced this during a long season of praying for a friend to come to Bible study. Months went by with no response. I wanted to give up, but something in my quiet time kept bringing me back to this passage. "Even youths grow tired and weary," Isaiah writes. Yes — even our best human effort runs out. The solution is not more willpower but a different source of power.

What struck me is the order at the end: soar, run, walk. It seems backward — you would expect walk, run, then soar. But I think Isaiah is describing the reality of faith. Sometimes God gives us eagle moments — mountaintop experiences where everything feels clear. But most of the Christian life is the walking. Putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, without fainting. That steady, unglamorous faithfulness requires the deepest strength of all.

My friend eventually came to Bible study — almost a year later. By then, the waiting had changed me more than it changed him.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to wait on You — not passively, but with eager hope. When I am weary from my own effort, renew my strength so I can walk faithfully, one day at a time. Amen.