Back to School

Pause

Change is hard for everyone. Even when it’s obvious that doing something different is the better way to go, we always seem to encounter opposition. Sometimes that resistance comes from others, but often we find it welling up from deep inside ourselves.

God has something new in mind for us, but we have to decide that we are willing to go there. No kicking and screaming!

So get ready for something new. Hopefully, you will recognize its value and receive it—gladly!

Listen

But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Think

What’s the most strenuous exercise you do? Running? Playing ball? Biking? Walking to class? We don’t often think of waiting as strenuous exercise. According to Isaiah, it is. Isaiah told us that when we wait for the Lord our strength will be like the eagles’, powerfully soaring with their beautiful wings.

But much like runners, our strength doesn’t arrive as a magical gift. It is developed over periods of time as we exercise by waiting. Renewing happens in the daily ins and outs of life over the long haul. Like walkers who build endurance, renewing takes time. It takes practice. It takes desire. It takes commitment. It takes God and us together. It takes waiting.

Ruth Perkins Lee

Pray

Dear God, I wait for you. Gaining strength and endurance in this exercise, I am working with you on renewal. Amen.

Go

Don’t be afraid.
The newness God is offering you is a
Very good thing!

Open your heart and mind to
The new beginnings God has in store.
Get ready for a change that lasts—forever!