Isaiah 40:31
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will fly up on wings like eagles; they will run and not be tired; they will walk and not be weary.”
Strength. Big word. A lot in there. Can I just tell you the strength that my oldest has? Ridiculous. Pretty sure I’ve brought this up before in other devos but here is comes again. The boy has some serious physical strength which is very common in special needs kids. He has punched holes in walls, shattered an ipad with his own fist, flipped a bicycle rack at school, I mean, don’t mess with Quinn. Ha. Isn’t it interesting that this massive physical strength comes out when he is scared, frustrated, and angry. He has a heart the size of a giant teddy bear. Ask anyone who knows him. So when this kind of strength comes out, it’s almost like an out of body experience, a numbing thing. He feels HORRIBLE when he realizes what just happened. When he steps away from the situation and comes back to the present, he can’t believe it. This is how I explained to him my cutting when I opened up to my kiddos. He struggles with emotions but he could relate to the place you come to when you are just numb. Where something comes over you that you can’t control anymore because it’s almost like your existence is altered. Then he got it.
Where does your strength come from? When I wrestle with this word I realize it could come from a good or bad place, right? I mean, we assume it’s so important to have strength and be strong, which it is, but are we coming at it from a numbing place? A place where we are shoving everything down to survive and we think its important to just hold it all together and that’s strength. I don’t believe that’s truth. Yes, there comes a time where some of us don’t have a choice. We are in situation’s where it calls for it but when strength comes from the right place, when it comes from our soul, from the place where Jesus lives, that strength actually turns into peacefulness. That’s when you know it’s coming from the right place. You see, I think we rely on our own strength so much that we lose sight of what it really means to be strong. Being strong and having strength actually means to give it all away. It’s about hope. Strength is telling yourself that you are brave enough, worth enough, good enough to fight the good fight. Not by flipping bike racks or taking a knife to your arm but by truly digging internally and touching into the depths of some of the pain AND healing from past experiences that take you to where you are now.
When it talks about renewing our strength by mounting up with wings of eagles in scripture, that is so so spot on. Eagles are so incredibly powerful on so many levels yet when they are flying with their strong wings, they are floating with ease. They become soft, hopeful, peaceful, yet the foundation of that is built on the power of their strength. That is us. That is Christ. Now we just need to put it all together and fly.
“She was brave and strong and broken all at once.”
Wounded to Warrior 