...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 | Click to read all of Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you ever get to the point where you are just tired out? Not the good kind of tired after a workout or the irritable kind after staying up too late. I mean the kind of tired that seems to seep into your soul with a heaviness that doesn’t want to lift. Have you been there? I know I certainly have been. What if your weariness lays heavy because your trust and hope in God is low? We don’t often connect one to the other, but the prophet Isaiah does. There is a Hebrew word used in verse 31 that is the key: QAVAH

v31…but those who QAVAH the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.

In my CSB Bible, the word is translated trust in. In the ESV, the word is translated wait for. In the NIV, the word is translated to hope in. The original word is full of nuance, and if you take the translations together, they manage to capture it. Can we all admit that when something lays heavy on us or we’re weary, it is so easy to let our trusting-in, waiting-for, and hoping-in levels get dangerously low? The rest we need, sweeter than any holiday by the sea can give, is found in the ACTIVE expectation, hope and anticipation of God. Let him be your rest today.

Lord, I confess that I’m tired. It seems as though the joy and excitement of life has been crowded out by all I see and hear around me. I feel weary in my soul and so God, would you stir up my trust in you today. May I find rest and be renewed because of all that you are and have done for me! Holy Spirit, remind me to trust, to wait, and to hope in the middle of my weariness. I pray for the rest in my soul that is only found in you. Amen.