My Strength or His?

AN EXERPT:

"Those who wait on the Lord shall renew (exchange) their strength" (Isa. 40:31).

Isaiah believed that waiting on the Lord was anything but a passive process. This idea of "staying power" required a radical exchange of human for divine strength. The Hebrew word for renew means "to substitute, to exchange, to show newness, to sprout." The Christian is not supposed to stir up his or her willpower, but instead to exchange human energy for divine energy.

When I was a sophomore in college, I had a discipline problem when it came to studying. I found all kinds of other activities with my friends that competed with getting assignments in on time and being fully prepared for exams. One night after class, I discussed my problem with one of my professors. After talking to him, I felt compelled to single out my devotional time as the top priority of the day. It would be the one project I planned on getting done first thing every morning.

The next day as I began my new commitment to prioritize my quiet time, I found a sudden sagging in my resolve. I just didn't feel like it. I wasn't in the mood. Claiming Isaiah 40:31, I decided to become transparent with the Lord and "exchange my strength" for His. I told Him my heart was cold and that I felt little motivation to spend time with Him. I confessed my apathy as sin, and then I thanked Him for His forgiveness (1 Jn. 1:9).

Then I chose to surrender my mood to God and asked Him to change it. I began to depend on Him to replace my stagnation with His vitality. I read through the biblical passage again that I was scheduled to read. I recommitted myself to pray for transformation.

After about 20 minutes of this, I began to pray over other projects that needed my attention later in the day. I told God about assignments I didn?t want to do and asked Him for the strength necessary to deal with them.

By the time my feet hit the asphalt on my way to class, I began to feel an energy, a focus, and most important, a discipline that I had previously lacked. My grades went up that semester. I had found a way of exchanging my strength for that of the living God.

Taken from http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0718/