Docking ensures recharge
God strengthens the weary and gives vitality to those worn down by age and care. Young people will get tired; strapping young men will stumble and fall. But those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run—never winded, never weary. They will walk—never tired, never faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31 VOICE)
I have noticed that the "energy drink" business is big business these days. There are constantly new products showing up on the shelves and in vending machines touting the benefits of drinking whatever is within the can or bottle simply because it will give you the "get up and go" you need to power through your day. Maybe we don't realize it right away, but the contents of these products aren't what we really need to help us "power through", though. We need a lot more than physical energy, but seldom realize we are trying to meet a need with something other than the power we really desire. It usually comes down to trust, my friends. Who or what is it we will trust to help us "power through" as life deals the cards we must play? Most of the time, we struggle not with weariness of work, but misplaced trust.
As we look at this passage a little closer, there are a couple of things that kind of "pop out" as the crux of what God is saying:
- We can count on getting weary and our vitality wearing down. In a purely physical sense, our bodies, minds, and even spirits can only handle so much and then they need to shut down - kind of like when our electronic device flashes that "low battery" warning and we know it will be important to power down, plug in, and allow it a period to recharge to capacity once again. One thing is also certain - we cannot "charge" beyond capacity. As with the electronic device, we might leave it plugged in all the time, but the capacity of the battery cell is only so great - at some point, it reaches "maximum capacity". Weariness and waning vitality can be signs we are about to exceed the limits of what we should really endure. It isn't that we "can't" endure a little more, it is that it may not be the best for us to actually push to that point. We can plug the electronic device in, but will it recharge at the same pace if we continue to use it while it is charging? No! Why? The energy being replaced is being drained almost as quick as it is being replaced! At some point, we need to totally shut down, allow the full recharge, and then motor on again.
- Trust rightly placed ensures a "recovery of power" better than anything else. When we trust in self, or another, we are trusting in what could be deemed a "faulty power cell" of sorts. I have had electronic devices on their last leg, kind of limping along with a battery in them that just could not hold much of a charge any longer. In fact, those devices are probably laying in some electronic graveyard at the moment! At some point, they become useless to us because they just cannot do what they were designed to do any longer. When you read the actual packaging of the battery pack, it literally suggests a "life span" for the battery's performance. In other words, you can likely "trust" it to perform for that reasonable period of time and then it will begin to be a little less than trustworthy beyond that point until it reaches the point of being totally dead. When we place our trust in self, we are trusting in a "source" which has limited capacity and endurance. At some point, we are not longer trustworthy! Trust in others can be equally as faulty - for at best, we are all in the same boat. On the other hand, trust rightly placed in the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and never-ending God of the universe is going to do more than just "power us through". It will recharge us with repeated faithfulness and generous amounts of grace.
It isn't that we won't tire. It is that when we hand over the control to the one who has no other goal in our lives than to protect and preserve our lives, we don't run continuously, with effort beyond our true capacity. When we tire, we settle into the "recharging place" of getting renewed by God's strength - the strength that comes best when we are resting in his arms. Think of "docking" as trusting - we begin to rest in his ability, not ours. Just sayin!
I have noticed that the "energy drink" business is big business these days. There are constantly new products showing up on the shelves and in vending machines touting the benefits of drinking whatever is within the can or bottle simply because it will give you the "get up and go" you need to power through your day. Maybe we don't realize it right away, but the contents of these products aren't what we really need to help us "power through", though. We need a lot more than physical energy, but seldom realize we are trying to meet a need with something other than the power we really desire. It usually comes down to trust, my friends. Who or what is it we will trust to help us "power through" as life deals the cards we must play? Most of the time, we struggle not with weariness of work, but misplaced trust.
As we look at this passage a little closer, there are a couple of things that kind of "pop out" as the crux of what God is saying:
- We can count on getting weary and our vitality wearing down. In a purely physical sense, our bodies, minds, and even spirits can only handle so much and then they need to shut down - kind of like when our electronic device flashes that "low battery" warning and we know it will be important to power down, plug in, and allow it a period to recharge to capacity once again. One thing is also certain - we cannot "charge" beyond capacity. As with the electronic device, we might leave it plugged in all the time, but the capacity of the battery cell is only so great - at some point, it reaches "maximum capacity". Weariness and waning vitality can be signs we are about to exceed the limits of what we should really endure. It isn't that we "can't" endure a little more, it is that it may not be the best for us to actually push to that point. We can plug the electronic device in, but will it recharge at the same pace if we continue to use it while it is charging? No! Why? The energy being replaced is being drained almost as quick as it is being replaced! At some point, we need to totally shut down, allow the full recharge, and then motor on again.
- Trust rightly placed ensures a "recovery of power" better than anything else. When we trust in self, or another, we are trusting in what could be deemed a "faulty power cell" of sorts. I have had electronic devices on their last leg, kind of limping along with a battery in them that just could not hold much of a charge any longer. In fact, those devices are probably laying in some electronic graveyard at the moment! At some point, they become useless to us because they just cannot do what they were designed to do any longer. When you read the actual packaging of the battery pack, it literally suggests a "life span" for the battery's performance. In other words, you can likely "trust" it to perform for that reasonable period of time and then it will begin to be a little less than trustworthy beyond that point until it reaches the point of being totally dead. When we place our trust in self, we are trusting in a "source" which has limited capacity and endurance. At some point, we are not longer trustworthy! Trust in others can be equally as faulty - for at best, we are all in the same boat. On the other hand, trust rightly placed in the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and never-ending God of the universe is going to do more than just "power us through". It will recharge us with repeated faithfulness and generous amounts of grace.
It isn't that we won't tire. It is that when we hand over the control to the one who has no other goal in our lives than to protect and preserve our lives, we don't run continuously, with effort beyond our true capacity. When we tire, we settle into the "recharging place" of getting renewed by God's strength - the strength that comes best when we are resting in his arms. Think of "docking" as trusting - we begin to rest in his ability, not ours. Just sayin!
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