What does Isaiah 40:31 mean?
It means God gives fresh strength to people who look to Him and trust Him, even when they've run out of their own. It doesn't say you'll never be tired. It says where new strength comes from.
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But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
What it means
To wait upon the LORD isn't sitting around. It means hoping in Him and trusting Him, looking to Him instead of to your own reserves. Those who do “will renew their strength.” The Hebrew word has the sense of exchanging: your worn-out strength for His.
Then come three pictures: soaring like an eagle, running without growing weary, walking without fainting. Notice the list ends with walking. Some days God's strength looks like soaring. Many days it looks like putting one foot in front of the other and not giving up.
The verses around it
Verse 30 is honest: even youths grow tired and weary. Verses 28 and 29 say the LORD never grows tired, and He gives power to the faint. Isaiah was speaking to people who felt forgotten by God (verse 27). The answer is that the God who never tires shares His strength with the tired.
He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
The lies it answers
The thoughts this verse speaks to, in the words people use for them.
“What's the use? I'm too tired to keep trying.”
You've run out. God hasn't, and He gives strength to the weary.
Bible verses for when you feel like giving up“It's too much, and I can't handle it.”
Your strength isn't enough. His is, and He shares it.
Bible verses for when you feel overwhelmed“If I don't hold it all together, everything falls apart.”
It isn't all on you. Those who wait on the Lord get His strength, not just their own.
Bible verses for when it feels like it's all up to you
Say it out loud
The Lord doesn't grow tired, and He gives strength to the weary, me included. As I wait on Him, He renews my strength, even if today that means walking and not fainting.
More Bible declarations like this
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Questions people ask
What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?
To hope in Him and trust Him, looking to God instead of your own strength. Isaiah 40:31 says “those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength.”
What do the eagle's wings mean in Isaiah 40:31?
Eagles ride rising air to soar without flapping hard. It's a picture of being carried by a strength that isn't yours. The verse also says run and walk, because God's strength shows up in ordinary steps too.
Does Isaiah 40:31 mean I won't get tired?
No. The verse before it says even young people grow tired. It promises that God gives new strength to those who trust Him. If you're worn out all the time, rest, and talk to your doctor too. Your body matters to God.
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