Lost and passed over

Good morning friends! Since it is Sunday (Day of Feasting? My buddy told me so!) I set my alarm for 6. (I know, sleeping in! WOOOOO!) God said no. Avery (6 years old) decided to wake up at 4:45 am because "she missed me" and so I put her back to bed.... then it was 5 and I was up. (insert eye roll)

So here I am, 5:35 am, bible passage read, half a mug of coffee gone... good start to the day. The verse I read today in the lent reading plan was Isaiah 40:11. It was meh. So I went back and just read all of Isaiah 40. Whew. It's a long one. I kept getting lost and sidetracked and found myself skimming.... I would have to realize what I was doing and then go back a few verses so it would actually make sense.... and when it still didn't, I pulled up blue letter bible (a cool website where you can look up the root translation of a word to see what it means) and figured it out that way.

So not much was hitting me with that passage. Then I got to the end and there it was:

Isaiah 40:27-31
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
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.

I've heard those last 3 lines many times. I'm sure you have too. But the stuff in front of it... BOOM. We can't skip it. It's powerful and VERY relevant today.  I know it can't just be for me.

"My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God" - how many of us feel like that? If I'm honest this is like, the last 3 months of my life. My poor husband (who would kill me for speaking so openly, but sorry, I prayed for God to give me the words and these are the ones that are coming out. Love ya babe!) My poor husband has been asking this question since he got the news at the end of November that he had 6 weeks left at his church. But there is an answer for us in the next few lines!

Haven't you heard? Your God who, by the way, created everything around you (so I think He can handle your problems, yeah?) doesn't get tired.... He understands what you're going through. He has strength, so you don't have to. It doesn't matter if you're tired, burnt out, or if you fell on your face. If you wait on Him (click on wait, it will take you to that website I was talking about!)  He will strengthen you. He'll give you more energy to fight that fight... He'll refresh and renew your claim, your purpose. He will renew your calling. Then, you'll be on a spirtual high, right? So you'll soar like an eagle, run like a basic white girl, and have an unlimited supply of coffee. (New Jen Translation, Sarcastic version)

I don't think I need to go much farther today. That seems to sum it up for me. I'm encouraged. How about you?