The Bible says “they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength….” (Isa. 40:31) and I was struck by the word “renew”. We often think that we need to obtain new strength, of which we certainly need, but what I think this passage indicates is that we already have strength in God, the bright righteousness of Jesus Christ, and we merely need to look unto Him anew to renew it! He is our strength as believers, an unending resource of power of which we alone in the earth have unlimited access to! Are we tapping into that, or looking for more strength through the “power bars” of this life? I want the real strength! And much like charging your batteries, the practical effort of waiting on the Lord actually renews our strength.

This is very timely for me (and surely for many) who are about to enter the “Christmas Break”. The purpose of a break is to provide rest, strengthening, and vision for the next semester - but as I have definitely experienced before, many squander this time. How do they squander it? By doing nothing. Hopefully you and I realize that doing nothing isn’t the key to new strength. Doing less certainly may be, but not doing nothing. Doing nothing actually is very exhausting! Have you ever had a day where you really did nothing, and you are so tired you just want to go back to bed, though you slept many many hours the night before? You are tired from doing nothing.

We are created to be. Then we were created to do. This means that our doing flows out of our being, and not the other way around. However, some, in process of trying to get rid of so much “doing”, go to the other extreme of “not doing” so that they can then “be”, which to them, equals rest. Actually, rest is found in doing the act of being. Yes, I said doing the act of being. This may sound like mincing words, but I don’t believe it is. When we make a determination to sit before the Lord, believing His promises and actively waiting on Him, we are “doing” something very powerful. We are not “sitting idly by”, but we are actively engaging our Spirit to believe God and listen to God. We may feel nothing, but the Word of God is true forever, and this active act of “being” is in fact the most restful and re-strengthening “doing” we could ever do. Then, our strength is renewed, and we return to a vibrant place of vision and purpose.

So, you say, you want me to sit in a room and just wait there, hoping something will happen? Not necessarily! Open your bible, put on some good devotional music , and let a “Yes” arise from your spirit to the Lord’s. Begin to praise Him, and let Him guide you to the scriptures, or to prayer, or to read, write, paint, or whatever flows natural. It can be long, it can be short, it really doesn’t matter. It’s the engagement of your spirit with the eternal God that counts, a waiting that believes to the utmost that He DESIRES to fill us with Him and renew our strength for the days ahead.

All of that to say - during this break, let your strength truly be renewed, not by “doing nothing”, but by “doing being before the Lord”, or in other words, actively waiting on the Lord. Most likely, you will in fact “do less things” than you naturally do during a busy semester, but this isn’t the goal of a break. The goal is to “be more” before the Lord, not just do less. Being more, rather that doing less, will be that which renews and strengthens you and I this Christmas Break.