What do you need?  The Lord has promised that He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory.  That which He has in abundance in glory shall be given to us as we need. Our Verse of the Day touches upon this.

Isaiah 40:29

29 He gives strength to the weary

(NIV)

My first response to this passage is thank you, Lord.  I have been many times weary and heavy burdened and He certainly did give me strength.  I have been on the verge of giving up many times when the enemy has seemed to win the day, but in those moments when I call out to Him, He is there.  He fills me. He rejuvenates my spirit with hope and my mind with reason. He turns my eyes to His plan and His way. Stress, worry, and fatigue come off.  But today, I have to ask the Lord, “Why do you allow me to get weary? Why not keep me strong all the time?”

I mean, if the Lord is able to strengthen me when I am weak, why not continually fill me with this strength so that I don’t grow weary?  I’m just sayin…

But then the Holy Spirit whispers in my ear, “What about this?”  He reminds me of the passage David wrote long ago. He reminds me that He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).  “What was true for David is still true for you,” the Spirit says to me. This is what David wrote so long ago that is still true.

Psalms 34:10

10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

(NIV)

Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.  That would include strength, would it not. This passage even suggests that we don’t have to be like the lions who grow weak and hungry.  We can be filled with strength at all times it seems to say. Is that really what David is saying? But then how can I find myself so weak and weary at times?

When I get down to the nitty-gritty of this passage, I have to ask myself if there is a connection between my times of weariness and the degree to which I am seeking the Lord.  If the strength of God is never being withheld from me by the Lord and it is always available in ample supply, then why am I weak? The only answer seems to be that I have stopped seeking the Lord.

I know.  I hear all of you out there thinking, “I haven’t stopped seeking the Lord.”  I don’t mean that we have turned our backs on Him, but perhaps we have taken our eyes off of Him momentarily in a situation and suddenly that situation seems like an immovable mountain though somewhere in the soul-deep, we know that God is a mountain-mover.  Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the harsh storm. He lost strength, power, and sank into the waters. Elijah threw a pity party in his own mind because God did not destroy Ahab and Jezebel and he prayed for God to let him die just after he prayed for fire to come down from Heaven and God obliged.  How did He go from the strength to take on such a powerful king and rebellious nation to suicidal ideation? He stopped seeking the Lord to self-loathe for not receiving what He wanted from God.

Jesus always sought out His Father and He was weary, but His weariness was physical, never spiritual. In His weakest moment, slowly drowning in His own blood on the cross, His body was dying, but His spirit was strong.  He forgave. We can’t confuse physical weariness with spiritual weariness. Our bodies will get tired because they are made of dust, but our spirit can remain strong. God’s strength is always available.

But then how glorious it is to understand this because it illuminates the grace of God who would give strength to those who have paused in their devotion, seeking other things, focused on the wrong things.  We declined His strength for a time, but He is not offended. He does not withhold His strength. The moment we call upon Him, seeking Him again, His strength flows into our blood.

When our spirit becomes weighed down in stress, worry, loneliness, we need to re-focus our eyes upon the Lord.  We seek Him, His wisdom, His perspective of our suffering, and His purpose. Then we open up to what He has been waiting to give us-His strength.  I am so grateful that I have a God who chooses to strengthen me and not chastise me; a God who loves me when I neglected Him, a God who pursues me when I move a different direction.  He is the God who gives strength to the weary.

Have you been through a weary time?  Were your eyes turned more to the storm than the Savior?  Were you about to sink, then called His name and He was there?  How has the Lord rescued you from the worst times of your life?  Leave me a comment. I would love to hear how God has helped you in the most difficult moments of your life.  

Live Blessed and Be a Blessing!

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Pastor Lee is a pastor and Biblical life coach.  He has been helping people through counseling, pastoring, teaching, and preaching for 20+ years.  His ministry focuses on helping people overcome the strongholds of the past and press on into God’s plan for an abundant life.  He has been married to his wife, Amy for 28 years.  He has three sons and one daughter-in-love.  For more about Pastor Lee or to get some Biblical advice, go to the About page.