Advent Day Five

Isaiah 40:31

“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.”

Life is often painful, scary, and can feel utterly hopeless. Even in a fruitful season of connection with God and each other, it only takes a minute of news, a quick scroll on social media, or even worse, a concerning test result or diagnosis, to remind us that this world is terribly broken and hurting. We are all vulnerable to the sin and brokenness of this world and this brokenness is sticky. It likes to cling to us, make us weary, and can keep us from living out our lives in connection with God, each other, and for His purposes. 

Isaiah tells us “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” The word translated as hope in this verse is the Hebrew word qawah, meaning not only “to hope for,” but can also be translated “to wait for“ and also “to look for.” In other words, those who focus on the Lord above all the distractions, all the brokenness, all the weariness of this journey of life, will see their strength for the journey renewed. To put it another way, we are called to worship God first and foremost, to love Him, to keep our attention on Him, no matter what is trying to distract us.

I love the ending of O Come All Ye Faithful, where we are reminded of the importance of keeping our focus on Jesus above all else. As we sing “o come let us adore him” in this season of Advent, may we be reminded that we are promised renewal of strength when we take the time to adore, to love, and to focus on the One who came as a helpless child to be our strength, our peace, and our hope. Let us all take the time to adore Him more in this season, and receive the promise that our strength for the journey will be renewed.