New Strength

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Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

As I write this, it is the beginning of the last two weeks of a school semester. As a college professor, the last two weeks have a mountain of papers to grade, a zillion committee meetings to attend, four more lectures to prepare, exams to prepare (and then grade!), ... all of which adds up to 60 hour weeks. And that does not include the responsibilities of home, church, and community service.

And just when I think that I am not going to make it, the Holy Spirit brings Isaiah 40:30-31 to my mind. Isaiah 40:30-31 assures me that God knows that sometimes I do too much, sometimes I burn my candles at both ends, sometimes I just want to through my hands up in the air and yell, "help!". Yes, God knows. And He cares. And He provides the help I need to make it another 24 hours.

How does the help come? Well it is not in the form of a maid to clean my house (but, God You know that would be okay with me - wink, wink); and not in the form of a student assistant to do all my grading (that would be sweet) ... Help does come, but it comes in the realization that waiting on the Lord will reveal new strength. New strength. Strength to tackle the growing pile of papers; strength to prepare one more meal and attend one more committee meeting.

Waiting on the Lord involves living to please Him. Sometimes that means pulling an all night grading session and sometimes it means leaving the papers alone and reading the Psalms. Waiting on the Lord requires slowing down enough to listen for His voice. Waiting on the Lord involves trusting the Lord enough to take one more step.