This morning as I came to work, I was feeling quite fatigued and disturbed. The events of the last couple days didn’t help much. But in addition, I spent the bigger part of my sleep time watching our baby boy who we had to take to the hospital last night due to high temperatures. Some infection of sorts was trying to rob him of his full life.
Still, we managed to make it early to town, thanks to the holiday season. When I got to the office, I was yearning to spend some extra time just worshiping the Lord. I switched on my worship music App. It plays music in a random way. You won’t believe which song played! I so needed to hear the voice of God and I am convinced this was Him reminding me that He is still God. I felt overjoyed as I worshipped along; ‘Strength will Rise As we wait upon the Lord…’ I got up and danced and sang my heart out to the Lord. Now I feel so much better especially after spending time meditating on the portions of scriptures that inspired this song.
I read that this song was written by a worship Pastor; Brenton Brown. When he initially started writing it, both he and his wife were diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, leaving them both physically and mentally drained.
Yes, I am the kind that pays extra attention to the lyrics in songs. Sometimes I go the extra mile to just understand what inspired the song. It was such an encouragement to discover that the lyrics in this song are not only heavily Scriptural based but also written by someone who intimately knows what it’s like to be exhausted and has experienced God’s promise to carry us through it.
It then hit me, concerning the times we are living in right here in Uganda. I realized that like many Ugandans, I have probably lost a lot of hope because I am focusing on human strength. There and then I remembered that it is only God that can ultimately cause a change in our circumstances, not human beings. When we disregard this and focus all our energies on humans, we shall be frustrated, fatigued and worn out. If you are a Christian, this is the time for us to go on our knees and cry out to God on behalf of our nation. I know many are going to react to this in defense saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” I Am telling you, God is also the one that gives us direction, wisdom, understanding, power, resources…. Name it. We can not put him out of the equation while we focus only on our human strength.
I just want to encourage us to get back to His promises. Let’s put our hope in the Everlasting God. Isaiah 40:31 says: “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 faint.”
I feel a renewed hope just by meditating on these! This blogger; www.worshipwithscripture.com put together some more scriptures that the original author of the song was thinking about.
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord (Psalm 31:24, Isaiah 40:29-31, Isaiah 41:10)
Wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord (Psalm 27:14, Psalm 130:5-6, Proverbs 20:22, Isaiah 8:17)Our God, You reign forever (Exodus 15:18, Psalm 146:10, Lamentations 5:19, Revelation 11:15)
Our hope, our strong deliverer (Psalm 18:2, Psalm 56:13, Psalm 144:2, Jeremiah 14:22, 2 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Timothy 4:10, Hebrews 10:23)You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary (Genesis 21:33, Psalm 121:4, Isaiah 40:28)You’re the defender of the weak (Psalm 12:5, Psalm 18:2-3, Psalm 59:9-10, Psalm 91:1-2)
You comfort those in need (Isaiah 40:1, Isaiah 51:12, Isaiah 66:13, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
You lift us up on wings like eagles (Psalm 103:5, Isaiah 40:31)You are the everlasting God (Genesis 21:33, Isaiah 40:28)
I pray the Holy Spirit ministers to you as you read them too. Let us start this week differently. Let’s remember where our strength comes from.
Blessings…
HAPPY NEW WEEK
