My text this morning comes from the book of Isaiah, chapter forty, verses 28 through 31:
"Do you not know? 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.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." – Isaiah 40:28-31
Is there anyone here this morning who could use some of this "renewal"? Anyone who’s feeling weary, or weak, or tired? Anyone who would like to receive some of the power that is promised to those who place their hope in the Lord? Of course there is. Every one needs to have their strength restored from time to time. People like:
The new mother, juggling midnight feedings, and diaper changes, and laundry, and dishes, and shopping, and cooking, and housecleaning, and a husband who can’t understand why she’s so tired all the time. Or the single mother, carrying the whole load by herself. Or the expectant mother, wondering if this baby is ever going to come.
The professional, going to the office every morning, sitting in meetings, writing reports; trying to please so many different people – customers, co-workers, superiors, subordinates – doing that for eight, nine, ten hours, then fighting the traffic to get home, only to start a second job, as a mom or dad. Soccer practice, piano lessons, homework. Then maybe, if they’re lucky, they’ll have an hour after the kids are in bed, or a couple of hours on the weekend, to divide up between preparing the Sunday School lesson, and attending PTA meetings, and mowing the lawn, and baking a cake for the church potluck, and taking the dog to the vet.
Or one of the older folks, who thought that when they retired, they’d have all kinds of free time, but who find that they are busier now than they ever were when they had a "real" job. And they wonder, how did I ever have any time to go to work?
But what really tires us out isn’t the work, or the children, or the hectic pace of life in general. What really saps our strength is dealing with the stuff that goes on inside us; the emotional and mental stress. Because life is hard. I’m sure that comes as no surprise to you, but it needs to be acknowledged. Life is not easy – not for you, not for me, not for anyone, no matter how green the grass may look on the other side of the fence. As a pastor, I’ve talked with enough people to know that, no matter how calm and trouble-free and idyllic someone’s life may appear, we all have our own struggles; we all have to deal with sorrow, and loss, and disappointment, and confusion, and fear. Sometimes, it’s all you can do just to keep functioning. And even when things are going pretty well, life is still tiring. Like a juggler trying to keep all those balls in the air, it eventually wears you out.
So what do we do? The world offers an abundant supply of false solutions and counterfeit remedies. For instance, you could try to block it all out, by numbing yourself with alcohol or drugs. Some people’s choice of anesthetic is more socially acceptable: instead of whiskey or cocaine, they dull their senses with hours of television watching or internet surfing, or they stuff themselves full of food. You could throw yourself into a hobby, and give every free moment to woodworking, or bass fishing, or rose gardening. You could fill your days with more and more frantic activity, joining clubs and serving on committees, so that you won’t have any time to stop and think about how you feel. You could give yourself over to pleasure, seeking temporary relief in whatever makes you feel good. Some people give up altogether. Quit their job, abandon their family, stop going to church. Or they just check out mentally, quit caring. People try all kinds of things to cope with the stress and fatigue of daily life. Maybe you’ve tried some of them yourself.
But they don’t work, do they? Although some of these things are fine in moderation, when they are pursued as an antidote to stress, when you go to them for relief and comfort, they will inevitably disappoint. They cannot give you what you need. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has told us in the Bible about how we can be refreshed, how we can be renewed and restored, from the inside out, so that instead of giving up on life, or being defeated by life, or trying to escape from life, we can find the power to live life to the fullest. That’s what we really need, and that’s what we’re going to look at this morning. I promise, if you listen to what the word of God has to say on this topic, you won’t be disappointed.
First, in case there’s any doubt, I want to show that every person needs this kind of supernatural strengthening, that there is no one who is entirely self-sufficient, and who has no need of the Lord’s help. We can see this in the verse we read before. Let’s review it.
"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. "
Of all the kinds of people you could think of, who is least likely to experience weakness and weariness? Young people. People in their teens and twenties, with all the vigor of youth. People like the high school seniors we’re recognizing this morning.
I remember when I was in high school – vaguely. It’s been a while. Hard to believe I’ll be attending my 25th class reunion soon. In high school, I ran cross-country. Every day after class, we would go out and run five or six miles. Sprints, medium distance, long distance. Now, I couldn’t do that anymore, even if I wanted to, which believe me, I don’t. I’m not completely sure why I wanted to do it back then. For some reason, I did. But even when I was in high school, I couldn’t run forever. If I ran hard enough, and long enough, eventually, my legs, or my lungs, or my heart would reach their limit and I would collapse. Usually, after I’d passed the finish line, but not always.
And what the prophet Isaiah is saying in this passage is that even those who are in the prime of their life; the very picture of health and vitality – even they stumble and fall. Even they grow tired and weary. There are no supermen, whether you’re talking about physical strength, or emotional strength, or spiritual strength. Even the strongest among us will eventually falter; even the healthiest will stumble and need to be lifted up. And if that’s the case, then how much more do the rest of us need to acknowledge our need of God’s grace. In the Scriptures, we see that even God’s greatest saints needed his grace and strength. For example, the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians that,
"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation . . . . I can do everything through him who gives me strength." – Philippians 3:13
"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints . . . I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ." – Philemon 1:7, 20
If even Paul needed to be renewed and encouraged in order to fulfill his calling, then surely we do as well. No matter what God has called us to do, whether it’s great or small; whether our deeds are publicly recognized or known only to Him, we cannot do it apart from a continuous, ongoing infusion of his strength and power. As Christ taught us in John chapter fifteen:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." – John 15:5
It’s really that simple. If we are drawing our strength from Christ, we can do anything. If not, we can do nothing .Now, perhaps things are going fairly well for you right now, and you’re not aware of any particular weariness or stress. That’s wonderful. But I assure you that storms will come. And it’s far better to develop the habit of relying on God in times of peace and prosperity, than to find yourself suddenly in need of His strength, and have no idea how to receive it.
The second point I’d like to make is that the source of the renewal and the refreshing we need is God. Listen closely, because this is key. Not God plus, but God alone. His grace is absolutely sufficient. Nothing else is necessary. As Paul tells us this in his second letter to the Corinthians:
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’" – 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
The problem was that Paul had a painful physical affliction of some kind. It was making him weary and discouraged. It was interfering with his ministry. And so Paul looked at his situation and determined that what he needed, in order to be refreshed, was to have his suffering brought to an end. He needed to feel better. Most of us in his situation would feel the same way. The obvious solution would be to remove the so-called "thorn". But God told him that was not necessary. All he really needed was God’s presence and power working in his life. And in order to prove it, God promised to strengthen, and encourage, and renew Paul spiritually without relieving his suffering, without making any change in his circumstances.
What this means is that when we are in need of spiritual renewal; when we are in need of strength and encouragement, what we need is God. Period. Not a change in circumstances, not relief from our pain. But knowing and fellowshipping with God. Now, is that what people typically try first? No. What people usually do when they’re weary and discouraged is to try a combination of things – going out to eat, taking a long walk, taking a day off from work, visiting with some friends. And then they’ll add God to the mix – some prayer, some Bible reading, attending church. But they don’t go to God first, and they don’t seek relief in God alone. And that’s a problem. Because if we rely on other things instead of God, or even in addition to God, we’re not living by faith. We’re not taking seriously what the Bible says, which is that God’s grace is entirely sufficient. And to the extent that our reliance on other things causes us to rely less on God, our weariness and our weakness will remain.
Let me pause, then, briefly and ask you -- are you looking to God alone for refreshing and for strength? Not that God can’t use people or changes in our circumstances to bring encouragement, but are you relying on those means, or on God? It may seem like a fine distinction, but it’s a crucial one. If we’re relying on God alone to meet our need for renewal, whether he does it through the direct work of the Holy Spirit in our heart, or whether he does it through some other means, then we’re on the right path. But if we look to the means themselves as the solution to our need, then we’ve missed the boat. Our trust and reliance must be in God alone.
That’s not easy to do, especially if you’ve been accustomed to seeking relief in other places. And so let me share with you a couple of passages which assure us that God’s power to encourage, and uplift, and renew, is all that we need. For example, David in the Psalms writes:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." – Psalm 23:2-3
"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. – Psalm 40:1-3
"revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." – Psalm 80:19
That’s what the Scriptures say about God as the source of our peace, and joy, and contentment. That’s what they say about where we should go when we need to be renewed and restored. The question for us, then, is whether we’re going to believe this and act on it. And if we choose to believe it, how do we take hold of these promises and experience them for ourselves.
There’s really not a simple answer to that question, because it involves the whole of the Christian life. It involves walking by faith; it includes our choices, and our heart attitudes, and our conduct. But one key is prayer. When we sense a need for encouragement and renewal, our first response should be to go to God in prayer. As John Bunyan, author of the book "Pilgrim’s Progress" once said, "You can do more than pray after you’ve prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you’ve prayed." Certainly, David understood this, as several of the Psalm are prayers for God to renew his spirit.
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." – Psalm 51:10, 12
You and I may not be as eloquent as David, but we can make the same appeal to God in prayer. And as Psalm 40 taught us, when we do that, God will hear our cry. He will lift us out of the pit of despair and depression, and he will set us securely in a place where we can joyfully praise him.
For the third point, I want to emphasize that what I’ve been speaking of is an ongoing process. It’s a process that must continue until Christ returns. We must continually seek to be renewed because we are continually in need of renewal. It cannot be otherwise, because we are constantly at war, striving and contending with the world, and the flesh, and the devil; the Bible says that we are aliens and strangers, passing through a land that is not our true home. And that is deeply wearying to both body and soul. As Paul writes,
"Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." – 2 Corinthians 4:6
"[you] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." – Colossians 3:10
Therefore, as we saw in John chapter fifteen, we need to stay in close fellowship with the Savior, because he is the source of all our strength, and joy, and power. In just a few moments, we’ll be celebrating our union with Christ, in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. And as we do that, I encourage you to consider whether you are truly relying on the power of Christ, living in you, day by day, to provide the comfort, and strength, and renewal that you need, whether you are looking wholly and completely to Him for your strength. If there’s any doubt in your mind, I urge you to recommit yourself to Christ this morning, to put a stake in the ground and say, "from this day forward, I am placing my trust in Christ and Christ alone – not only to take me to heaven at the end of my life, but to provide all that I need every day of my life."
Fourth, and this point deserves much more time than I can give it this morning, we need to grasp how amazing it is that God cares for us, that He loves us, passionately and powerfully. So much so, that he is intensely concerned with our well-being; with our spiritual, and physical, and emotional welfare. He is deeply concerned with how we’re coping with the challenges of life; he’s constantly watching to see whether we’re standing firm or whether we’re about to stumble and fall. And not only is he willing to help us, but he is actively seeking to help us. Listen to what the Scriptures say,
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." – 2 Chronicles 16:9
The Lord is even now searching for opportunities to provide aid and comfort to anyone who will turn to him in faith. And he offers this aid, not reluctantly, or resentfully, or grudgingly, but gladly, and graciously, and joyfully. Because he loves us. More than we can possibly imagine.
My fifth and final point is perhaps the most important. The promises and blessings I’ve been talking about this morning apply only to believers. This ongoing process of renewal begins with a one-time event of renewal, in which your sins are forgiven and your relationship to God is fundamentally changed, from that of an enemy to that of a beloved son or daughter. And so, if you have never placed your trust in Christ for salvation, I invite you to do so, even this morning.
