March 18

He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. — Isa 40:29 BSB

God’s people are often in a state where they "have no might." All their strength seems spent, and they feel utterly drained. Sin seems to have gained the upper hand, and they feel powerless, as if they can neither run the race set before them nor continue in the way of the Lord. Yet, even in this state, they still have strength, for it is written, "He increases strength." Notice it doesn’t say that God gives or bestows strength, but that "He increases strength." How can this be?

We must have strength to feel our own weakness. God must exert His power to bring us into a state of helplessness. That’s why it says, "He increases strength," as if to suggest that even the power to sink into our own nothingness and weakness is itself strength. This is how God’s mysterious dealings work. So to those who "have no might"—that is, those who are fully aware in their conscience that they have no strength or wisdom of their own—God "increases strength."

But God often increases strength in quiet and hidden ways. We should not always expect great manifestations. That’s not usually how God works. His visits to the soul are often better recognized by their results and effects, and only in hindsight, rather than by any immediate sense of power. The strength given is often more easily felt than the hand that gives it. In this, it is much like the new birth, of which Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going” (John 3:8).