They that wait shall renew their strength

"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

We quote this verse to encourage people, and we almost always quote it without noticing the order of the three verbs. Mount up, run, walk. That is a descent, not a climb.

You would expect the opposite: walk, then run, then take flight — the ascent toward triumph. Isaiah does the reverse. He begins with the eagle and ends with walking. And the longest-reaching promise is attached to the humblest verb: they shall walk, and not faint.

The reason is that the prophet is talking to tired people. The whole chapter addresses a people in exile who are saying: my way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God. These are not athletes. They are deportees.

So he promises them, in order: moments of flight, seasons of running, and above all the capacity to keep walking. Because the life of faith is ninety per cent walking. The soaring moments exist — a meeting where heaven opens, a spectacular answer — but they are not the measure of spiritual health. The measure is holding the ordinary road without collapsing.

"Renew" translates a word meaning to exchange. This is not strength added to yours: it is a trade. You hand in the exhausted one and receive another. Which implies a gesture — letting go of your own. Many believers ask God for a top-up of strength so they can carry on exactly as before. The verse offers something else.

Today. Do not ask to go faster. Ask to walk a long time. And if you are in a season where you no longer soar at all: that is not a fall. It is the verb the text saves for last.

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