S186P10 – A promise is a promise: the untiring spirit
Isa. 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.
She became interested in fitness only later in life after spending decades on the sidelines watching other people do what she wished she could do. Her primary motivations were health and longevity, but there were other things below the surface driving her. Ever since she was a young girl she always wished she had the stamina to run long distance races; running never was her talent. So, one of her goals became running a 5k race without walking even one step. She would meet that goal and extend it, training for a 10k for several months, but her stamina never progressed to that point. No matter how fit she became or how methodically she trained, her body simply tired well before the finish line every time.
There are many similarities between our physical bodies and our spirits. They both need nourishment and exercise to remain alive and active. They both are necessary parts of our being. Even in the life to come we will have glorified physical bodies. One distinct difference is that our spirits come with a promise that these natural bodies will not see. No matter how strong and capable we are, these bodies eventually grow tired. We will encounter challenges we simply cannot meet because we are not physically able. Our spirits, however, can exist without growing weary. When we wait on the Lord, we develop this spiritual stamina and strength not only as a natural consequence of that waiting process but also as part of the reward for our patience.
I have heard some Christians call others super-spiritual as a way of demeaning or judging them or their doctrines. In my view, super-spirituality is something to shoot for. I want to get to the point where my spirit is so disciplined to wait on God that it perseveres through every trial and temptation. I want my spirit to be unbending and unyielding in the face of opposition. We should desire that our spirits would not tire, grow faint or become weary. If inexplicable or unimaginable spiritual strength and stamina are available to us through God, we should chase that. Father, thank You for giving us the grace to have patience and wait on You, and continue to train us to make our spirits untiring in this fight.