Verse of the Day for June 16

The order of verse thirty one is surprising. First they shall mount up with wings as eagles. Then they shall run, and not be weary. Then, last of all, they shall walk, and not faint.

We would probably write it the other way round, building up to the soaring. Isaiah builds down. Flying, then running, then walking. The final promise is the most ordinary one.

That is good news if you feel small. Most days are not eagle days. Most days are walking days, one foot in front of the other, to the market, to the classroom, to the bedside of someone who is ill. Isaiah saves his last word of strength for exactly that pace.

And it comes right after verse thirty, where the young men shall utterly fall. The contrast is not between big people and small people. It is between those who rely on their own reserves and they that wait upon the LORD. Waiting is the secret, not size.

If today you cannot fly and cannot run, walk. Do not despise it. Walking without fainting is the promise that was kept for last.

A walking day is not a lesser day in God's eyes.

The strength in this verse belongs to those who wait, not to those who are big.