“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)

I want those words to describe my life. I want to soar!

But I don’t always feel like an eagle. I’m more like a duck. Quack, quack, quack, waddling through the day. Can you relate?

Sometimes, I’m so weary that I can’t walk without nearly fainting.

What would it look like to run tirelessly and soar effortlessly?

I come back to the practice of rest. We’ve learned this month that rest isn’t only physical, but it’s also spiritual. It’s not only about pausing, but it’s about praying. It’s not always quiet isolation, but it’s connection with God. As you wait on the Lord, spiritual rest will lead to physical rest.

He’s the one who gives us true restoration, as he tells us in that familiar Psalm, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2-3 ESV)

Billy Graham’s preaching ministry was launched to the next level during the Los Angeles Crusade in 1949. It was supposed to last two weeks, but it lasted eight weeks. Night after night, Billy preached. People came forward to commit their lives to Christ. The tent was filled again and again. It was exhausting for Billy. He even ran out of sermons and had to write fresh ones on the run. By his own admission in his biography, Billy Graham was spent, physically and spiritually.

Yet, he poured his life into preaching the gospel around the world for the next 60 years. I think he knew the secret of resting in the Lord. There’s no other way he could have lasted as long as he did. God restored him year in and year out as Billy came back to the living water.

Are you coming to the living water each day as you practice rest? Jesus proclaimed, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38 NIV) And in the next verse, it is explained, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

If you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you. He is the one who will restore you with the living water that will flow from within you.

Enjoy your practice of rest as you spend time with Jesus today.

(From my new devotional, Your Life With God: 30 Days of Rest, releasing in just a few days on Amazon).