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Running and Walking
July 1, 2003

Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."

Something in this verse bothered me for years, and didn't make sense to me until I got more experience in walking with the Lord, and my head knowledge began to connect with my heart knowledge.

But let's back up to verse 28…

"Do you not know (remind us), have you not heard, that the everlasting God,…"

Everlasting is a funny word to me, it doesn't go with God, it goes with humans. Eternal is the true definition of God. Everlasting must be in the concept of man's mind and not God's character. Everlasting has a beginning, with no end. Eternal has no beginning and no end. Christians step into eternality when we are in Christ, with no way to lose our salvation. God stepped out of eternal and entered into everlasting so we could know who He is.

"…the creator of the ends of the earth…"

You must have your own foundation in order to build something to give a foundation. Our foundation includes house, family, insurance, money, community…when we look at our foundation it is very fragile, and can be changed with one thought, one action, one breath. God says, I am the eternal foundation.

"…fainteth not, neither is weary?

He will not grow tired of making me what He wants me to be. We get tired with our children, and give in to them. God brings calamity on us in order to mold us for his purpose.

If you were a senior in high school, would you ask a 1st grader how to dress to be cool? God says, "I am God, and you aren't even in first grade, why should I listen to you? Not only will I not grow weary, but I will hold on to you and deal with you."

"He gives strength to the weary, and to them who have no might he increases strength."

We all want His strength, but don't want to ever grow weary. We want his comfort, but don't want to ever get uncomfortable. We want to have faith, but don't want to be put in a situation where we depend on faith.

God wants to give us stuff we don't really want, so he puts us into situations to make us want…our greatest blessings come disguised as problems, because He is all wise. You've heard the expression, "You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. That's a lie…just put SALT in his mouth!" God makes us hungry for the Word, then takes it away to make us thirsty, brings in difficulty, turns up the heat to drive us back to the Word, and then blocks our understanding. Then when we keep studying, we understand. Most Christians give up before that happens, and miss all the blessings God has for us.

"Even youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall;"

When I was in my first 2 years of pro football, I would prepare by running 20 miles to the YMCA, work out, and then before leaving to run back home, I would call my nephews and have them meet up with me about 2 miles from home. They would then set the pace to keep me running to the finish.

"But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength…"

Hope is a volitional decision right now. You can't live it yesterday, and does you no good for tomorrow. It is the ever-present experience of walking with God right now. We all have enough strength to handle anything that comes our way right now.

"They will soar on wings like eagles…"

We're supposed to be soaring like eagles, but we're acting like turkeys. Do you know domestic turkeys have to be under cover, so they don't drown in the rain? We are having problems because we are not trusting God.

"They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

I would think running would make us faint (like I felt the last 2 miles running home from the YMCA)…but walking?

Running is the busy-ness of the Christian life, what we are doing in our service to others, with others.

Walking is being alone, it's the every day monotony, when no one sees you, and congratulates you for living right. It's making the right decisions when no one is watching.

God says I give you my strength and knowledge to walk. You don't need it to run, because you have other Christians to help. It's the walk of the Christian life that most Christians fail at. They faint and go by the wayside. A walk takes longer to finish than a run. We want our Christianity like McDonalds, fast and easy. God doesn't get tired, and He knows how to wait. And He's teaching us every day how to WALK.