Renewed Strength Series

Statistics from Born Again Christians:

(1) Searching for purpose: 48% (2) In Too Much Debt: 40% (3) Needing New Friends: 50% (4) Stressed Out: 31% (5) Too Busy: 49%

Illustrate the busy of life and how youths even grow weary. We’re tired and weary, and yet most of us still want to do things for God, to be productive for Him, but it’s hard when we’re without strength!

Statistics say: Born Again Christians are tired and in need of personal renewal.

As I was praying and studying about God’s promise to renew our strength, I came across Isaiah 40:28…

Isaiah 40:28-31, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. (He’s busy!) He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Are you weary or weak?) Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

? How long has it been since you experienced that kind of strength?

With ALL He does, God never gets tired! With that said, you might be wondering, “Then why did He rest on the 7th day and command us to observe the Sabbath?” The book of Genesis tells us He rested on the 7th day. If He rested, then wasn’t He weary?

No. He did it for US. Not because He was tired and needed rest, but because He is a sensitive and compassionate Lord required us to need strength from Him. He is sensitive to our need for personal renewal… Even more so than WE are!

How many of us work ourselves to the bone? How many ignore the Sabbath: the commanded day of rest, so you can get something you want done? Have you not heard that God commanded a day of rest?

In the fourth of the Ten Commandments, God is saying, “I want you to rest!” “I command you to take 1 vacation day every week, just to rest and relax with me. Be close to me.”

In His Word, He offers us complete & total renewal. Renewal of Body, Mind and Spirit. That’s the whole essence and purpose of the Sabbath. Because He knows our needs and wants so much to provide for us, He has commanded us to take a day of rest, and He set the example in the beginning of creation to impress upon us the vitality and importance of personal renewal!

The body NEEDS one day a week to lay down and relax.

The mind NEEDS a quiet day, without the stresses, the worries and responsibilities it carries throughout the work week, for renewal.

The spirit draws its strength and energy from God, by fellowshipping with Him, so the spirit needs that day of rest, too!

The Sabbath is the day of rest for our entire being.

It was instigated BY God FOR His people, out of love and in respect to our human needs… And He WANTS to provide new strength, personal renewal to us!

Mark 2:27, “…The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” -Jesus

If God is that serious about providing for your personal renewal, how much more serious is He about providing for all your other needs and desires in life?

See, you and I serve a God who never tires, and we draw our energy and strength from Him. He is our source. God never tires… “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

But we do get tired! So then, what about the rest of the week, when life is a busy, confusing whirlwind?

What then?

How do we draw on The Lord’s energy for strength for our own lives during the busy times?

If we look back at Isaiah, his solution is this: verse 31: “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Solution: Hope in the Lord… He’s saying, “Your source is The Lord.”

If that’s true, then why are so many Christians so tired and so burned out?

If life is a whirlwind, and we’re always busy with work, and play, and ministry (if we have enough time left for that), then the natural result is to be tired, right? Wrong!

What causes a Christian to loose his or her strength? (Drawing on the wrong source.)

First of all, there’s a priority problem somewhere in the Christian life today… We always make the mistake of putting work and play before ministry, and that’s a huge mistake because we draw our strength from the Lord, don’t we? If we’re too busy drawing from the wrong sources, we loose our strength. No matter how hard you work or play, the world doesn’t pay back with strength because our source of strength is the Lord. In order to obtain strength from the Lord, you have to be engaged in the business of the Lord: in the purposes of God.