Worship is Renewing (Oct. 8)
Read: Isaiah 40:28-31
When we worship Him, God can provide us encouragement and strength.
I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was the last day of March, and I had been sick for a few months, to the point that we finally decided it was time for me to go to the hospital. After dropping off my 3-month-old baby with a friend, I headed for the ER, where they promptly admitted me to the hospital so that they could run tests to find out what was wrong. I remember that I couldn’t even walk in on my own, my husband had to help me. I’d never felt such constant pain, and it had wearied my body to the point of giving up.
I remember when the doctor came in to tell me that I had Crohn’s disease – something I’d never heard of – and that it was a disease that I would live with for the rest of my life. I can still vividly feel the discouragement of those words, like an invisible weight had been placed on my spirit. I remember my husband telling me that they’d given me as much morphine as they could, but it had only mildly dulled the pain. But, more than anything, I remember feeling alone in my pain. Though many people helped me through that time, I remember feeling as though I were on an island, where no one truly understood what I felt. The agony, but also the weight of living with this for the rest of my life.
Then, on the first day I was home from the hospital and was lying in bed crying (and feeling pretty sorry for myself), I got a phone call. It was from the sister-in-law of a friend of mine, someone that I’d never even met. But she, too, had Crohn’s disease. I will never forget the feeling of hope that she gave me, because she knew. I was no longer alone. She understood what I felt, both physically and emotionally, and was able to tell me that I could live with this. There is something very powerful in someone truly understanding.
Action Step: Read Isaiah 40:28-31 multiple times, letting yourself sit in the truth of the words. As you do, thank God for each truth, as your spirit worships Him in truth, renewing your spirit and refreshing your mind. Cry out to Him, knowing that He hears, and He knows.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Listen up, Amber!
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
Yes, even your broken body!
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He understands. He knows. And He has beaten it!
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Get your strength from Him!
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
There is nothing wrong with being weary, but don’t stop there!
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
He will renew my strength when my hope is in Him!
They will soar on wings like eagles;
He will use the winds of this struggle to bring me closer to Him
They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Through Him alone will I get the strength to not be weary.
Prayer: Father, thank you for your understanding. Thank you for your strength. You are the creator of the heavens and the earth, and yet the depth of Your understanding for me is unfathomable. Because of Your great power and mighty strength, not one star in the heavens is missing, yet you still care about my weariness. Thank you for Your promise to increase my strength – please help me to continue to hope in You alone. You alone are worthy of my worship.
Author: Amber Wright