Choosing Hope - iBelieve Truth - January 23, 2024
“Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” Isaiah 40:28-31
2020 turned out to be a difficult year of my life, a period I refer to as a “dark night of the soul.” As a child, I struggled with anxiety. But I learned coping strategies to keep my anxiety in control. But in 2020, work tensions, financial woes, and other factors resurrected that anxiety to a point where what used to be small bouts of fear became uncontrollable waves of panic. Lying in bed with my iWatch on one night, I watched in horror as the heart rate app measured my heart rate, and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. My resting heart rate registered numbers like 129, 139, and 140. These are rates within the heart attack range!
The anxiety got so bad I stopped functioning normally. After many months of counseling, she recommended I see a psychologist, and I knew I was at the end of myself. As I stared at the ceiling one night in my bed, thoughts raced through my head:
What is happening?
Is this really my life?
Who do I have to help me navigate through this tough season?
In those months, before my diagnosis, I had nothing. I lost all hope. Weary and exhausted in every way, I spent months crying out to God, hoping he’d save me from this pit of despair. All I got, however, was silence. I believed God had forgotten me.
The Israelites believed God had forgotten them, too. In verse 27 of Isaiah 40, we see the prophet Isaiah correct the people: “Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God?” They believed God didn’t see their plight. Wandering aimlessly, feeling like God had forgotten them, they became weary and without hope, too. But Isaiah reminds them of the nature of who God is: “He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”
We all grow tired. Weariness is a part of life. We all will have moments when we get tired of this life. Stress, financial woes, and health concerns are just some of the things that can wear us down. This passage teaches us even young people get tired. From the new Christian to the seasoned veteran, we all experience fatigue. But it is our reaction to that weariness that allows us to demonstrate hope in God. Verse 29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” The word “increases” here reminds us we are never powerless, but instead God gives us more power in our weakness. But the power comes through choice. We must choose hope. When we choose to hope in God, he gives us a renewed strength like never before, and with his power, we can do anything God wants us to do. In his strength, we will be able to persevere without weariness and he will open the doors to possibilities we never had believed possible.
What areas of your life do you need to choose hope? Choose to hope that God will provide for your financial needs. Choose to hope that God will renew your marriage or reconcile that past relationship. Choose to hope that God will heal that disease or convict your prodigal to come home. Whatever the situation, let us choose hope, instead of weariness. Let’s let God give us the strength we need so we can fly like eagles!
Father, help us choose our hope in you. Help us to remember that we are never powerless, but instead we can increase our power by putting our hope in you. Allow our testimony of your strength to be a light that shines on everyone around us. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/TanesNgamsom
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
