His yoke is easy, his burden light.

Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint. - Isaiah 40:30-31

Have you ever noticed how the world is so fast paced these days that people always seem to be in a rush to get things done? They never take time to just stop and notice the world around them, as though everything would come to a screeching halt if they even slowed down for a few minutes. The burden of this fast paced world that we live in can be overwhelming, and it's no wonder self-help books are so numerous today. These verses give a different approach to the advice given by the self-help gurus.

Those that put their trust in God will be renewed and invigorated. Why? Because humans are finite beings designed with limits. We are guaranteed to function extremely well only up to a point, and then we are apt to falter from fatigue be it mental or physical or spiritual. If we attempt to ground ourselves on our own strength, we sometimes find that we quickly begin to sink when push comes to shove, and in our finite mortal states, we will begin to flail around while we are sinking which tends only to increase the fatigue and make us sink lower and faster. God, on the other hand, is infinite. He is eternal. Immortal. His strength never falters. He never tires. This is why it is so important to ground yourself in the Lord and trust Him, for when life's little surprises catch you unaware, the tendency of all of us is to start to grasp on to whatever is near, like the man in deep water who cannot swim and will begin grasping for anything to keep his head above water. Those who are grounded in the Lord will not grasp since there will be no need for grasping. The Lord will be their strength and will deliver them.

Now, think of it this way. What if your child was faltering at a task and was refusing your help, relying only on his own strength. Imagine the inner strength it would take for you to restrain yourself from helping until you were asked! This is what God does for all of us. Despite his knowing that we are in need of redemption, that we need a rock to ground us, he loves us enough to allow us to go our own and come to the realization of our need for redemption through self-discovery our own weakness. Wow. THAT is strength. But, as Isaiah demonstrates, the whole time he is there ready to lighten the load so that we can soar as with eagles' wings and run and not grow weary.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest. - Mattew 11:28