The Reading

Isaiah 40:28-31
Hello Eric,
I need your help about something that I am going through in my life. I
know it is something we experience from time to time, but my problem,
is that I don’t know how to handle stress when it comes into my life (I
Create problems to my family, friends, and even church members, when I am under stress).
I have tried to be indifferent many times, but with no avail. I don't know
how to deal with this and I really believe that as a Christian, this is one
of my weakest points.
Am I in sin for not knowing how to deal with this problem?
Thanks, In Christ.
Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God,
the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is
weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the
weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall
utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their
strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run
and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
 None of us are immune to stress.
 We all know what it means at times, to feel
emotionally fatigued, physically drained, and
spiritually tested.
 With God, there is hope as evidenced by this
passage in Isaiah Chapter 40.
 Let me repeat it again: with God there IS HOPE!
 THE STRESS PROBLEM. Isaiah 40:28-29
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of
the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is
weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak, And to those
who have no might He increases strength.
 THE STRESS PROBLEM. Isaiah 40:28-29
Stress may be defined as that gap
between the demands placed
upon us and our ability to meet
those demands.
 THE STRESS PROBLEM. Isaiah 40:28-29
Deuteronomy 25:16-17 - For all who do such
things, all who behave unrighteously, are an
abomination to the Lord your God. Destroy the
Amalekites 17 “Remember what Amalek did to
you on the way as you were coming out of
Egypt,
 THE STRESS PROBLEM. Isaiah 40:28-29
 This passage in Deuteronomy tells of an incident
where the weak and tired fell prey to the enemy.
 We are especially vulnerable to the enemy’s
attacks when we are under stress.
 Our homes and families are more prone to
arguments when we’re stressed.
 THE PROVISION OF SUFFICIENCY Isaiah 40:31
Isaiah 40:31 - But those who wait on the
Lord Shall renew their strength; They
shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary, They
shall walk and not faint.
 THE PROVISION OF SUFFICIENCY Isaiah 40:31
 God has not left us without
sufficiency.
 In Isaiah 40:31, there are three
distinct promises when we wait upon
the Lord:
 Deuteronomy 32:11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers
over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings,

 THE PROVISION OF SUFFICIENCY Isaiah 40:31

 (1) The ability to fly in the rugged times of life.
The eagle has learned to soar upon the wind.
He has learned that he can fly higher, see further, and fly faster
in the storm. Deuteronomy 32:11
When a mother eagle begins to teach her young to fly, she
“flutters” over them, making the nest uncomfortable in order to
coax them out of the nest.
We sometimes think God is cruel when He is actually kind.
  THE PROVISION OF SUFFICIENCY Isaiah 40:31
• (2) The storms of life that come to us may be the things that
God uses to deliver us, help us, and to cause us to rise higher.
• The ability to run in the rush of life.
• The rush of life refers not to storms, but to the deadlines we
have to meet.
• There are times we need to run like an athlete. Acts 8:29
• The ability to walk in the routine of life.
 Deuteronomy 33:25 Your sandals shall be iron and
bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be.

 THE PROVISION OF SUFFICIENCY Isaiah 40:31

• (2) The storms of life that come to us may be the things that
God uses to deliver us, help us and to cause us to rise higher.
• The routine of life is the area where most of us fail.
• It’s one thing to soar like an eagle, to surge like an athlete,
but it’s another to stick and to stay, day by day.
• “To walk and not faint” is day by day faithfulness in the
little things. Deuteronomy 33:25
 THE PROVISION OF SUFFICIENCY Isaiah 40:31
(3) The Israelites got from Egypt (their bondage) to
Canaan (the Promised Land) by walking one step at a
time.
 Many made it, many didn't. Everyone here tonight, listening
to the lesson, knows what the difference was, between
those who failed and those who made it to the end…
 IT WAS THEIR ATTITUDE ON HOW TO HANDLE STRESS!
 THE PROMISE OF STRENGHT Isaiah 40:31
Isaiah 40:31 - But those who wait on the
Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall
mount up with wings like eagles, They shall
run and not be weary, They shall walk and
not faint.
 THE PROMISE OF STRENGHT Isaiah 40:31
 The Hebrew word for “renew” means
“to change or exchange.”
 The Christian life is not only a changed
life, but it is also an exchanged life.
 Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
thebyLord
live and
faith in the in
Sonthe power
of God, of His
who loved memight.
and gave Himself for me.

 THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH Isaiah 40:31

We give Him our weaknesses, and He gives us His
strength.
Galatians 2:20
Ephesians 6:10
In order for this exchange to take place (His strength
for our stress), we must wait upon the Lord.
 Psalm 62:1 Truly my soul silently waits for
God; From Him comes my salvation.

 THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH Isaiah 40:31

 What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?
We must desire Him.
 Psalm 62:1
 It is no good to want relief without wanting
God.
 Proverbs 8:34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.

 THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH Isaiah 40:31

 We must listen to Him.

 Proverbs 8:34
 Can God get our attention?
 Psalm 104:27 These all wait for You, That You
may give them their food in due season.

 THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH Isaiah 40:31

o We must look to Him.

o Psalm 104:27
o Do we truly believe that God can
meet our needs?
 Proverbs 27:18 Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its
fruit; So he who waits on his master will be honored.

 THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH Isaiah 40:31

We must live for Him.

Proverbs 27:18
To wait upon the Lord means that
we’re here to serve Him.
 THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH Isaiah 40:31
o We serve God by flying in the hard times, running
in the happy times, and walking day by day in the
regular everyday areas of life.
o The gap of stress will be removed as He takes our
nothingness, and infuses it with His almightiness,
when we learn to wait upon Him.