What "They That Wait Upon the Lord" Actually Means (Isaiah 40:31 Is Not About Being Patient)
Michael MaioShare
This is one of those verses you hear at exactly the right time.
You are exhausted. You have been carrying more than you should for longer than you thought possible. You are running on fumes, and someone quotes Isaiah 40:31, and for a moment it feels like oxygen.
"But they who wait for 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." (Isaiah 40:31, ESV)
Beautiful. Powerful. Deeply misunderstood.
Because most people think this verse is about being patient. It is not.
Who Isaiah Was Talking To
Isaiah was writing to a people who had every reason to give up. Israel was facing the threat of exile. Their nation was crumbling. Their enemies were stronger. Their situation was impossible.
And in the middle of that, the people said the thing exhausted people always say: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God." (Isaiah 40:27)
In other words: God does not see me. God does not care. I have been forgotten.
Isaiah's response was not "hang in there." His response was to paint the most massive picture of God imaginable. The God who measured the oceans in the hollow of His hand. Who weighed the mountains on a scale. Who calls every star by name. That God.
And then he says: that God, the one who holds the universe, does not get tired. Does not grow weary. And He gives strength to the people who wait for Him.
What "Wait" Actually Means
The Hebrew word translated "wait" here is "qavah." It does not mean sitting still. It does not mean twiddling your thumbs until God does something.
It means "to bind together." Like twisted rope. Individual strands, weak on their own, wound together until they become something unbreakable. That is the image. Waiting on the Lord is intertwining your life with His so completely that His strength becomes yours.
This is not passive. This is the most active thing you can do. It means praying when you would rather scroll. Reading Scripture when you would rather distract yourself. Trusting God's timing when everything in you wants to force a result.
Waiting on the Lord is choosing, over and over, to stay connected to the source of power instead of running on your own.
The Three Promises
Notice the progression in the verse. It is not random. It moves from spectacular to ordinary, and that is the whole point.
"They shall mount up with wings like eagles." This is the dramatic moment. The breakthrough. The time when God lifts you above everything and you see the landscape from His perspective. It happens. But it is not the daily experience.
"They shall run and not be weary." This is sustained effort. The marathon. The long obedience in the same direction. Running without the collapse that usually comes. Not sprinting. Running.
"They shall walk and not faint." This is the hardest one. Walking. One foot in front of the other. The daily grind. No dramatic eagle moment. No runner's high. Just walking, day after day, without giving up.
Most people want the eagle moment. God is equally interested in the walking. Because the walking is where most of life happens. And the promise is not "you will soar every day." The promise is "you will not faint."
That might not sound exciting. But if you have ever been in a season where just getting through the day felt impossible, you know that "walk and not faint" is one of the most powerful promises in the Bible.
The Exchange
Here is the part that makes this verse different from a motivational poster: the strength is not yours.
"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted." (Isaiah 40:29-30)
Even the strongest people run out. Youth. Energy. Willpower. Talent. All of it has a limit. Isaiah is saying that waiting on God is an exchange: you trade your finite strength for His infinite supply.
You do not need to be strong enough. You need to be connected enough.
This is why Paul said the same thing centuries later: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13, ESV) Not "I can do all things because I am tough." Through Him.
And it is why Jesus said, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The invitation is not to try harder. It is to come.
What Waiting Looks Like in Real Life
Waiting on the Lord does not mean doing nothing. It means doing the right things while trusting God with the results.
It looks like praying even when you do not feel anything. Being still even when your mind is racing. Showing up faithfully when nobody seems to notice. Saying no to shortcuts that would get you there faster but leave God behind.
It looks like trusting God's timing when the waiting feels unbearable. Like keeping your hands open instead of grabbing for control. Like believing that the God who holds the stars by name has not forgotten yours.
Waiting is not weakness. It is one of the strongest things a believer can do. Because it requires putting down the one thing humans hate putting down: control.
Why the Eagle
Isaiah chose his metaphor carefully. Eagles do not flap frantically to fly. They soar. They find the thermal updraft and ride it. They extend their wings and let the current carry them.
That is the picture. You are not flapping harder. You are positioning yourself in the current of God's power and letting it carry you higher than your own effort ever could.
The effort is in the positioning. The power is His.
If You Are Running on Empty Right Now
If you are exhausted. If you have been carrying too much for too long. If you feel like God has forgotten you or like your strength has reached its limit, hear what Isaiah said:
The God who created everything does not get tired. And He is offering you His strength in exchange for yours. Not because you earned it. Because He is that kind of God.
Stop trying to manufacture the strength on your own. Rest. Pray. Open the Word. Tell God you are out of fuel. And watch Him do what only He can do.
You will mount up. You will run. And on the days when that feels impossible, you will walk. And you will not faint.
Keep Going
If waiting on God starts with showing up daily, the Do Everything in Love: A 365-Day Devotional{target="_blank"} gives you one verse, one reflection, and one prayer every morning. It is the daily rhythm that keeps you connected to the source.
If your prayers feel stuck, the After Amen Prayer Journal{target="_blank"} gives you space to be honest with God and listen for what He says back.
And if you want to wear your faith where people can see it, the Love1614 collection was built to start conversations about the things that matter most.
Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
Read next: What "Fear Not, for I Am with You" Actually Means (Isaiah 41:10)