Strength to Endure the Journey

"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; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 KJV

"But those expecting Jehovah pass to power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!" Isaiah 40:31 Young's Literal Translation

Enduring the journey is often a difficult task. We may question the direction we are heading, asking God if we are going the right way. The Lord never promised that we would not have to endure difficult roads or long journeys. In all actuality, Paul equated our time on this earth with running a race. It is a race of length, a journey, a test of endurance.

I have always quoted the King James Version of Isaiah 40:31. It is the one most commonly referenced. I came across Young's Literal Translation this morning, and it gives a refreshing new view on this scripture.

"But those expecting Jehovah to pass power..."
Jehovah is a special, significant name for our God. The meaning of this special name appears to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," "a convenant-keeping God." He is constant. He will always keep His promises. He is forever.

Expecting Him to pass power reflects an expectancy for God to act. If it is power passed by God, that means that we are unable to accomplish this task without Him.....it requires His power. Our strength alone is not sufficient.

"They raise up the pinion as eagles"
The pinions of an eagle are the primary feathers used for flight. They control the lift and directional movement of the bird. The strength of these feathers are unparalleled, and the follicle of each feather must endure the extreme atmospheric pressure encountered during flight. Interestingly, these feathers also provide insulation preserve the eagle's body heat in the cold, as well as shielding against overheating. When an eagle raises or spreads it's primary feathers, it reduces the drag on the bird's flight. Drag is an aerodynamic force that reduces the forward motion of any object.

Think about those concepts......God promises that we will be able to rise above the situation and will be able to move in a concerted direction. We won't be subject to which ever way the wind blows. We will have the strenth to endure, and will be protected against the extremes. While we may encounter cold or heat, they will not be allowed to overcome us. Also, He will help us to continue forward. We were built to move forward, to move on toward the goal.

They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!"
God doesn't promise that everything will come to us. We will move toward the goal, even running to the goal at times. Remember, he built us for forward motion. He did not build us to stay in one place or to move backward. Even though our journey may be long, he will provide the endurance required when we trust in Him.

Eagles travel long distances by climbing high upon a thermal current and then gliding to catch the next thermal. While we often see and think of eagles as solitary birds, during long journeys they will sometimes travel in thermals together. Endure your journey by rising above the circumstances. While your journey may not be exactly the same as someone else's, remember that God has placed others in our lives to help us complete the length of the course.


God provides amazing promises in His word, and He is always true to them. It is His very nature. The condition of these promises??........"Those who trust in the Lord." It boils down to one word--TRUST. Do you trust the creator of the universe to direct your path and give you the strength to endure the journey? Ask the Lord to strengthen your trust in Him--it is the fuel necessary to complete your journey.

Don't Give Up on Others

"One of the primary reasons Helen Kellar never gave up on herself was that Anne Sullivan never gave up on her." p. 59, Never Give Up by Joyce Meyer

How often do we "give up" on people? Perhaps they are difficult, they are going through trying circumstances, or we feel like we don't have "time" to deal with what is going on. Maybe they have made the same mistake more than once. We can come up with a laundry list of justifications. But how appropriate is that response?

Consider the story of Helen Kellar from the book The Miracle Worker. Helen Kellar had many characteristics that would made her situation "messy" or difficult to deal with. She was both deaf and blind, and as a result of the frustration she felt from these issues, she would become violently angry, lashing out at those closest to her. Multiple people had already given up on her, and deemed her situation as "hopeless."

Anne Sullivan could have very easily done the same and decided that this assignment was too hard, that God would never ask her to endure such a thing. She could have justified that Helen had too many difficulties, and that she would never be able to overcome all the struggles she faced in her life. Instead, what she chose to do was walk with Helen through her struggles, and ultimately to a changed life.

Did Anne "fix" everything wrong with Helen? Was she the full reason that Helen Kellar became the person she was later in life? No. While Anne helped Helen in the ways that she was led, it was God's work inside Helen that ultimately changed her. Anne was there, though, never giving up on Helen.

We cannot change anyone. We cannot fix someone else's problems, issues, or difficulties. It is only when we lay them on God's altar and allow Him full reign to do what He needs to do in their lives that real and lasting changes occur. God may call you to walk beside someone in their time of trial. He may call you to "be there" from a distance. You may be called to remain an unknown prayer warrior on that person's behalf. The response is still the same......if God has placed that person on your heart, never give up on them.

The Bible teaches us that God knows every moment of every day of our lives, before we even are born on this earth (see Psalm 139). That means God knows the past, present, and future of both you & the person he has laid on your heart. Do you trust God's wisdom in directing you who to pray for or be there for, or is your logic and human understanding superior to the Almighty's omniscience?

If he calls you to stand beside or pray for someone through their storm, he will give you the strength for that. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 states, "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." God will give you the strength to continue to pray, to stand beside, or to be there as a witness for that person. Don't feel, however, that you are the one that must make things happen. That is not our role. God is the source of healing, redemption, and change.

Who has God laid on your heart today & in what capacity? Be obedient to His call; He will be true to his promise.

God's Timing and Faithfulness

I have been going through a period of deep reflection and seeking concerning things in my life on a personal, business, and spiritual level lately. What happens when things don't go exactly according to your plan? What happens when you hit a wall? What happens when there are things that you thought you wanted, but realize that upon acheiving them, it doesn't fit into your true hearts desire known only between you, God, and a trusted friend? When do you listen to outside opinions, and when do you forego those opinions?



When we seek God, and answers from Him, He honors that. Sometimes He doesn't speak as quickly as we want Him to. Sometimes He doesn't speak in the way we want. Sometimes He speaks and it isn't what we want to hear. Sometimes He speaks, and it is confirmation to where we felt our heart and spirit leading us. I've found that confirmations often come in 3's. God amazes me at how He works. He takes the minute details of things, and has a way of amplifying them exactly when we need to see them. It is awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time.



God has laid this particular verse on my heart for 3 very specific situations in my life.... Isaiah 43:19 says "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."



Have you ever had a passage laid on your heart, but you could feel in your spirit that God was telling you "not yet, but this is where we are going" ??? I don't know if any of you experience that, but it is something that God has done with me time & time again over the years, and He is always faithful in doing those works. I can think of specific passages that were on my heart for years, and I never knew why. But "suddenly," years later, they came flooding back to me, along with that knowing in my spirit. It's like it all of the sudden, it becomes abundantly clear why that was on your heart for so long, and you are able to trace back the path and see God's hand at work in the situation.



That is the very same experience I've had with this passage. I finally hear Him saying "this is for you right now." This has come back to me this week in my devotional time, from seeing Joyce this week, and now from Os. Whenever I hear it, I can hear that deafening whisper in my ear letting me know that He is faithful and He will do it.



Our God is not a God of the status quo. He doesn't always work in logical and expected ways. Often, He completely debunks the ways we "believe" things should happen, in lieu of situations that will point directly to Him and allow Him to receive the glory. Our God is a God of the impossible! It is time to take some risks, to get out of the boat, and to move forward into the Promised Land He has prepared for us. The only person that can stop us from our God-ordained destiny is ourselves. He is doing a new thing for each of us today in some area of our lives....maybe even in multiple areas. Will you accept the new thing He is doing, or will you continue to hang on and look back at the past.



You cannot move forward while looking back.

The Journey Begins

This is the beginning of my blogging journey. As the name states, this will certainly be a winding road. As God leads me along the path He has appointed and designed for me, I hope to be able to gain insight and wisdom about Him and His word. These are the things I want to share with you. I pray that words that come across your screen will speak to your heart and your soul. I pray that God will not only guide me along my own journey, but also give me the words that you need to hear from Him on a daily basis.

All of my love,
Crystal