“But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired.” — Isaiah 40:31 (AMP)
The Promise of Hope
I am currently the head trainer for the Peterborough Petes hockey club in the Ontario Hockey League. There is a young man who works at our arena, and he is a big fan of the Petes. Almost every day that we have a home game, he seeks me out to talk briefly about the game that day. At some point in the conversation he will say to me, “I sure hope the Petes win today,” to which I will usually respond, “I hope we do too.” He maintains that hope season after season, regardless of if we have a winning or losing season.
Loyal fans are a big part of any sports team. They are the ones who have the biggest hopes for their favorite team to be successful. They cheer on the team and the players game after game, with the hope and expectation of their team being victorious each and every game. The way the fans cheer on and support their team can spark the players to play well, sometimes being part of the “home team advantage.”
Similarly, the players and coaches of any given team enter each game with a desire and hope to win. A hope to win a lot of games and a league championship, as most of you reading this know. Typically, a team looks to its coach to prepare it for the game at hand. A good coach will have studied game film, taught their team systems/plays and created a game plan with the hopes of being victorious. Let’s not forget how inspiring a timely motivational speech can be. No coach can ever guarantee their team will win, but that is exactly what they work toward and hope for.
The first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah are words of judgement on the nation of Israel. Sometimes our lives are like that — long periods of sadness, frustrations and failures. But we need to keep pressing on with the end goal in mind.
Then suddenly, things can change, just like when we start reading Chapter 40. We read words of God’s greatness, words of encouragement, of His care for each of us, and that He is the source of our strength. The rest of the book of Isaiah give us words of hope, of salvation and restoration, and of a new Heaven and a new earth. Those who “wait on the Lord,” who trust expectantly, who look for/to Him, they will find strength and power. This is the promise we read in Isaiah 40:31.
We have a promise of hope. Hope is the desire for something good in the future. A hope placed in God is the confident expectation and desire for something good in the future. Hoping in things of this world produces limited strength, wishful thinking and an uncertain future. Hope placed in God and Jesus produces a supernatural strength, confident expectations and knowledge of salvation, and an eternal home one day with our Creator.
Where is your hope? I pray that today you can lift up your wings and rise up close to God.
— Brian D. Miller, Peterborough Petes Hockey Club
If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com.
