Hope on the Outside: Monday

Monday March 29, 2021

Created by Elyse Horn

Isaiah 40:30–31 (NIV)

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31 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.

Devotion:

Generally when people think of physical therapy, feelings of pain and shame come to mind. Believe me, physical therapy is not my favorite. I also know that physical therapy is hard work and I am not afraid of a little hard work. I was not expecting the gift that physical therapy gave me. It was my junior year of high school and I had undergone surgery to lengthen my tendon. It meant that I had to relearn a lot of things, like walking.

When I first started to learn to walk again, all I could feel was fear. I did not want to fall over and be in pain. Over the course of several sessions, I made it outside of the room to the hallway. Slowly but surely, I was walking independently, which sacred me more than I’d like to admit. The goal was to make it to the end of the hallway. On a day I will never forget, I started walking, and it was the best feeling in the world! I felt like I was “soar[ing] on wings like eagles” (v. 31). I made it to the end of the hallway and I was overcome with thankfulness to God for this gift. Relearning to walk was my hope in a weary age of self-doubt.

Practice: Carve out time for a practice or hobby that gives you hope against what weighs you down!

Prayer

Good and gracious God, help us to find hope in this weary season. Amen.