Getting ready for the Year of the Horse - The Strength That Never Runs Out

Devotional

Day 1: The Reality of Our Limited Strength

Our own strength, willpower, and resilience are finite resources that are guaranteed to run out. This is not a sign of personal failure but a spiritual reality for everyone, from the young to the old. It is a signpost from God, designed to turn our attention away from sources that fade and toward a source that is everlasting. This is the starting point for receiving true, lasting strength.[46:00]

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)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you have been relying solely on your own "horsepower," and what would it look like this week to consciously acknowledge its limits and turn to God in that specific area?

Day 2: Remembering the Character of Our God

In our weariness, we can forget who God truly is. He is the everlasting Creator, unbounded by time and unmatched in power. He never grows weak or tired, and His understanding of our complex situations is immeasurably deep. His might is not distant or impersonal; it is expressed in tender mercy and a desire to carry His people. Let this profound truth wash over your heart and mind.[49:59]

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah 40:28 (ESV)

Reflection: When you feel overwhelmed by a circumstance, which aspect of God's character—His eternal nature, His creative power, His untiring strength, or His deep understanding—do you most need to recall and trust in today?

Day 3: The Exchange of Trust and Waiting

The way to receive God's strength is through active trust, or kavah—a hopeful, expectant waiting that is like twisting strands into a strong cable. It is not passive resignation but bringing our true needs, worries, and emptiness to God. In this posture of dependence, a divine exchange occurs: our failing strength for His power that never runs out.[01:01:49]

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Isaiah 40:29 (ESV)

Reflection: In what current situation are you being invited to move from striving in your own power to actively waiting on God? What would it look like to stretch out your empty hands to Him in trust this week?

Day 4: Strength for the Ordinary Walk of Life

God's renewing power is most profoundly displayed not only in moments of soaring or sprinting, but in the grace to walk faithfully through ordinary days. It is the strength to get out of bed, to be patient with family, to work with integrity, and to love the difficult. This daily perseverance is the greatest proof of His sustaining presence and power at work within us.[01:07:17]

They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31b (ESV)

Reflection: Where in your daily routine or relationships do you most need God's strength to simply "walk and not faint"? How can you depend on Him for perseverance in that specific, ordinary part of your life today?

Day 5: Our Strength is for Carrying Others

The strength God gives is not meant for our comfort alone but for deployment in carrying others. We are called to use our seasons of strength to serve those who are weak, to keep promises to the ungrateful, and to fly down into the mess of another's life. This reflects the heart of Christ, who exhausted Himself for us when we were undeserving.[01:09:03]

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 (ESV)

Reflection: Who has God placed in your life that He might be inviting you to "carry" or serve in this season? What is one practical, perhaps small, step you could take to fly down and offer them Christ-like strength?

Sermon Summary

The congregation enters the new year honest about fatigue and hope, naming both celebration and loss. The text diagnoses human exhaustion plainly: even the strongest in their prime will grow tired, because personal resources—willpower, health, savings, resilience—expire like grass. That reality invites people away from self-reliance and toward a source that never runs dry. The everlasting Creator stands over time and chaos, measuring oceans in his hand and never growing weak; his understanding reaches into tangled lives and refuses to be exhausted by human pain.

God’s character shows not only omnipotence but compassionate action. The sovereign strength that rules the world also stoops to carry lambs close to his heart—power and tenderness united in one arm. The incarnation and cross locate the untiring God within human suffering: the One who could have stayed aloof instead took on weakness, exhausted himself on behalf of others, and thereby revealed that pain was not merely a lesson but an exchange. In that exchange, human exhaustion can be traded for divine strength.

Trust receives that exchange. The Hebrew kavah describes an active, expectant waiting—hands stretched out, eyes strained for dawn, a rope braided under tension into something strong beyond its parts. Waiting in this sense does not mean passive resignation; it means bringing real need to the living God and allowing him to swap failing horsepower for new power. The promised fruit of this trade appears as soaring moments of perspective, surprising reserves for urgent sprints, and the steady grace to keep walking through ordinary days without fainting.

Strength has a purpose beyond personal comfort. The omnipotent, tender God renews people not so they ascend alone but so they can descend to carry others. True faithfulness looks like staying with the ungrateful, serving the difficult, and using present seasons of vigor as provision for someone else’s weakness. Practical invitations follow: bring a pressing worry to God in brief prayer, ask God to show who to carry, and reach out to someone who looks tired. The year asks not for an unending personal horsepower but for dependence, exchange, and the courage to fly down.

Key Takeaways

1. Human strength always runs out Human vigor, resources, and resilience have limits; exhaustion does not mark moral failure but the designed end of self-sufficiency. This reality redirects dependence from finite efforts to an unfailing source and reframes weariness as a spiritual signpost toward God. Recognizing limits cultivates a posture of humility that readies the heart for divine exchange. [45:03]
2. God is the untiring creator The Lord transcends clocks and crises, holding the world’s depths in his hand and never weakening under its weight. This truth reframes fear: the global economy, illnesses, and hidden paths all fit within his understanding, not beyond it. His unwearied presence invites confidence even when circumstances suggest abandonment. [49:41]
3. Trust (kavah) is active waiting Kavah portrays a patient, expectant posture—hands reaching, eyes watching for dawn—rather than passive passivity. In that braided tension, one trades failing strength for divine power; waiting becomes a faithful labor that opens space for God’s renewal. Such trust bears spiritual muscle built in dependence, not in self-effort. [59:35]
4. Strength is given to carry others Renewed power aims outward: wings lift so one can fly down and carry the weary, not to escape the world for personal comfort. Faithfulness shows in keeping promises, serving the ungrateful, and using seasons of strength as provision for others’ weakness. The call centers on community endurance rather than isolated achievement. [69:23]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[40:04] - Lunar New Year and the Horse
[41:34] - Naming Last Year’s Joys and Losses
[44:12] - Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40
[45:03] - Diagnosis: Even the Strong Tire
[49:41] - God: Everlasting and Untiring
[53:40] - The Warrior-Shepherd Image
[59:35] - Trust (Kavah) as Active Waiting
[63:09] - Renewed Strength: Soar, Run, Walk
[69:23] - Fly Down: Strength for Others
[81:30] - A One-Week Experiment in Trust
[84:47] - Prayer and Benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
*Isaiah 40:28–31 (ESV)*
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
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.

---

Observation questions

According to Isaiah 40:30, who specifically grows tired and falls exhausted? What does this reveal about human strength?
What four actions does God perform in Isaiah 40:28–29 that contrast with human limitations?
What three outcomes are promised in verse 31 for those who wait on the Lord? What is the progression in these outcomes?
How does the sermon describe the Hebrew word *kavah* (trust/wait)? What imagery is used to explain it? [59:55]

---

Interpretation questions

Why do you think God highlights the exhaustion of the young and strong, rather than the elderly or sick? What does this say about where we typically place our confidence?
The image of God in Isaiah 40:10–11 is a warrior who rules with power and a shepherd who carries lambs. How can one Person hold both these qualities without contradiction? What does this reveal about God’s character?
The sermon says that God’s strength is given not for personal comfort but to “fly down” and carry others. [01:09:23] How does this purpose redefine what biblical strength looks like in practice?
*Kavah* is portrayed as active waiting—like twisting strands into a strong rope [59:55] or a watchman straining for dawn. How is this different from passive resignation? Why does this kind of waiting lead to renewal?

---

Application questions

What is one area of your life right now where you are relying on your own “horsepower” (willpower, resilience, savings, health) that you know is limited? What would it look like to bring that specifically to God in *kavah*—actively waiting and trusting?
Who in your life right now looks tired or is difficult to love? How can you intentionally “fly down” and carry them this week, even if they’re ungrateful or don’t deserve it? [01:11:13]
The sermon described three expressions of renewed strength: soaring (moments of perspective), running (strength for urgent tasks), and walking (daily faithfulness). [01:06:44] Which of these do you need most right now? How can you posture your heart to receive it?
When have you been like Mrs. Moore—ungrateful, demanding, or unaware of God’s faithfulness? How does remembering that Christ carried you anyway free you to serve others without keeping score? [01:16:16]
The pastor invited a one-week experiment: if you’re tired, bring a big worry to God each morning; if you’re strong, ask God who to carry. [01:21:30] Which experiment will you commit to this week? What practical step will you take?
How can you remind yourself this week that your exhaustion is not a sign of failure but a “spiritual signpost” pointing you to God? [47:45] What truth from Isaiah 40 can you hold onto when you feel weak?
In what relationship or situation are you most tempted to set up “boundaries” to avoid being burdened by others? How might God be calling you to use your strength for them instead? [01:09:48]

Sermon Clips

So you bring your exhaustion, your grief, your problem, your failure, your empty resources, and you bring your failing horsepower. And in that posture of active waiting, trusting, kavat, you exchange it. You trade it for his power that never runs out. The old way says, in the new year, run harder, do better, you know, be stronger, but then that gives us no power to run. [01:01:59] (28 seconds) #ExchangeYourWeakness

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Now this is the heart of God's character. Give power to the weak, strength to the powerless. The everlasting all powerful creator stoop down. He bends to give. His might is expressed in mercy. He is not a god that only recruits the strong. He is the god who gives, gives the strength to those who have none left. [00:53:40] (30 seconds) #StrengthForTheWeak

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

Why does God allow human exhaustion?

How does kavah describe trusting and waiting?

What is the purpose of divine strength for believers?

Getting ready for the Year of the Horse - The Strength That Never Runs Out | February 15, 2026