This episode of the Hope in the Waiting series is a reminder that waiting is not wasted time. Isaiah 40:31 promises that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, but that doesn’t always mean we feel strong while we’re waiting. Sometimes God’s strength is revealed simply in our ability to get up, keep going, and take the next step when we feel like we have nothing left. God is working in the waiting, strengthening our faith and forming us through circumstances we may not understand. Your wait is not a waste. God hears every prayer, He is with you in the waiting, and He is giving you the strength you need—even when you can’t see or feel it yet.
Hope in the Waiting - Day 13 - Waiting Is Not Wasted Time
Isaiah 40:31 “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.”
This is a great verse. I love the imagery of soaring on eagles’ wings and running and not growing weary. I would love to tell you that if you hope in the Lord, you will never get tired and will always feel strong. That you will run and not grow weary. However, that hasn’t been my experience. I know several people who have been trusting in the Lord for some pretty big things, and yet they feel very weary. They have tried to be strong, but they don’t feel very strong. They have run the race, but they do feel faint.
When I think of eagles soaring above the skies, I think of how easy and effortless it looks. It looks like they are just gliding through life without a care in the world. What just came to mind for me is another verse: Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” I think we can hear that verse and think that if we just didn’t worry, all would be fine. I think life would be easier if we could figure out how to worry less. If we could figure out how to trust in the Lord, knowing He would take care of everything.
However, God made us differently than he made birds. Our thinking and feelings are much more complex than birds’. I don’t think God told us this parable so we would beat ourselves up for worrying. I think He told it to us so that we would know that if He is taking care of the birds in the sky, then He will take care of you and me even more. God created us. He loves us more than we can imagine, and He is listening to every cry, every prayer, every time we yell out to Him. He hears us! He hears you! He will answer your prayers. That is a fact. It may not always be like you want Him to, but He will answer them. He tells us this in every way He possibly can in the Bible.
So, let’s get back to today’s verse. What does it mean when it says, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength?” I know you may feel like you are hoping in the Lord, but your strength isn't being renewed. However, I would point out that the fact that you can get out of bed when you didn’t want to, or when you didn’t feel like you could, shows that God is giving you strength. During this whole time of waiting, have you ever wondered how you had the strength to do the things you have done? You might not have done everything you feel you should have, but I bet you are doing more than you think. God is giving you the strength to do the things you need to do.
When I have told people what it was like back when Tony and I were struggling with each other and also with how to raise our boys, they have said things like, “I don’t know how you did it” or “I don’t know how you kept moving forward.” I know it was only through the grace of God. I don’t say that as a cliché or something that sounds nice. I truly know that if God had not given me the strength to get up each day, I am not sure I would have. If God had not given me the perseverance to call psychiatrist after psychiatrist just to get the help we needed, I would not have been able to do it. It was God who kept me going when one of my kids was in the hospital, kicked out of school, or was being abusive.
I know you feel like you don’t have any strength, but I guarantee you would have even less if God were not there holding you up. Holding you together. I also think this verse is not just talking about strength in the moment. It is also talking about the strength you have after you have gone through what you are going through. It is easy to say I trust in the Lord when everything is going well, and I don’t really have to trust in the Lord. However, when you have been through something like what you are going through right now, then the next time you run into something, you will have more strength to say that you trust in the Lord, and you will mean it because He will have shown you that He always comes through.
I think we often think that all this waiting we are doing is for nothing. That we are just wasting time waiting until God gets around to answering our prayers. I assure you that is not the case. God is not just wasting time. He is the Father of time, and He did not give us time to waste it. If your answer to your prayer is taking longer than you would like, it is not because God is sitting around twiddling His thumbs. God is working right now in your situation. I wish I could tell you why it is taking so long. I can’t. I wish I knew why I had to go through so many of the things I did, and I really wish I knew why my kids are still going through so much. I can’t. What I do know is that I would not be the woman, the mom, the wife, the daughter, the friend, the Catholic that I am today without those trials. I know I would not have the faith or the trust that I have today if I hadn’t seen first hand God showing up and taking care of things eventually. It rarely happened on my timeline, and even when I thought it did, we took a few steps backward. However, He always came through in big ways and small ways.
This time is not being wasted. Your wait is not a waste. I know it is hard to see that. I get it; I have been where you are. I am still where you are for some of my prayers. I am also praying with so many who are waiting for the answers to their prayers, and I wonder why it hasn’t happened yet right alongside them. I know God can do all things, and so I wonder why He hasn’t answered their prayers yet. Why He hasn’t healed them. Why everything seems to be taking so long. We are actually going to go a bit deeper into these questions in the next two episodes. For today, I just want you to know that God is giving you strength, even if you can’t feel it, and that this waiting time is not wasted. God is with you through all of it, and He hears every word you say to Him!
Dear Heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we love you, and we want to wait on your answers; please help us. We thank you for the strength you are giving us, and we ask you for more, Lord! Help us to see all the ways you are giving us strength. Help us to continue to trust and hope that the answers and the healing are coming. We believe, Lord; help our unbelief. Help remind us when we grow weary and tired of fighting that this time is not wasted and that you will answer our prayers. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Before we wrap up, I also want to let you know that this week inside the Walk Boldly with Jesus Mentoring Program, we’re beginning a brand-new 7-week series on the Promises of God. We’re going to look more deeply at what God has promised us, how to stand on those promises, and what to do when our circumstances seem to contradict them. If that sounds like something you need right now, I’d love to have you join us. You can go to walkboldlywithjesus.com for more information or click on the link in the show notes. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I don't want you to be fearful, and I want you to move away from those things that disturb you. Move away from them. I'll care for them.”