Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  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 40:28-31

In my 20s, I spent my summer weekdays in Charlotte, North Carolina, setting up for soccer camps at 7 am and finishing camps at 3 pm, all so our team could practice from 4:30-6:15pm. If you haven’t spent too much time in the South during August, you’re extremely lucky. It’s hot and humid. At the end of a youth camp week and five training sessions with the team, we were exhausted. However, our coach was concerned that we might be losing our fitness level, so he’d have us do sprints at the end of those long days.

Needless to say, there wasn’t a single person who WANTED to do them and there was often frustration because everyone’s tank was empty. Our coach was trying to prep us to finish our games well and our bodies were trying to quit because they didn’t feel like they had anything left to give. While we recovered from each sprint, I vividly remember my teammate saying, “Guys, this is when you have to stop relying on your own strength. We don’t have any more strength. We have to ask the Lord for His strength!”

Hearing him say that made me self-evaluate. I always relied on my own strength and ability and I was forced to consciously ask the Lord for His strength. Every believer goes through moments of fatigue, weary legs, doubt, thoughts of giving up, etc. It’s in those moments that we are expected to rely solely on Him versus ourselves. We don’t quit. We keep going so that He can carry us and show us just how mighty and powerful He is! It is in our weaknesses that His strength is revealed.

Gregg Schroeder