Day 225 · Thursday, August 13
"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength."ISAIAH 40:29
Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 225, Power to the Faint.
Isaiah 40, verse 29. Hear this:
"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength."
He gives. Not lends — gives. And that distinction matters more than it might first appear. A loan comes with conditions. It comes with a due date. You receive it, you use it, and then you owe it back — with interest. But that is not what this text says. It says God gives. What comes from Him is a pure gift — no invoice attached, no debt quietly accumulating in the background. You do not have to earn it. You only have to receive it.
And who is this gift for? Not for the strong. Not for the ones who are well-rested, running on full. This promise is aimed precisely at the faint — at the one who is at the limit, who has already spent every reserve they had and does not know where to find more. If that is you today — if you woke up heavy, if the week has barely started and you already feel like you won't make it through — this word is not for someone else. It is yours. It was written with you in mind.
And what does God do with the little that remains in you? He does not patch it. He does not tape it together and say, "Go on, you'll be fine." He multiplies. Just as He did with the loaves and fish in that boy's hands — He took what was not enough, blessed it, and there was more than enough left over. God takes what remains in you — the effort you can barely explain, the perseverance you cannot account for — and makes it sufficient. More than sufficient. Not because of anything you did. Because of who He is.
But there is a condition the preceding verse reveals: waiting on the Lord. And I need you to understand that this waiting is not passivity. It is not sitting still with your arms folded, hoping something changes. It is positioning — turning your face toward Him, arms open, and saying: "I don't have it. But You do. And I'm here." That is active faith. Intentional and real. Christ is the destination of that waiting. He is the strength the Father promised.
There are callings on your life that exceed your natural capacity. God knows that. He did not give them to you to watch you fail. He gave them to you so that you would experience, firsthand, that whoever leans on Him does not fall. That He personally sustains what cannot sustain itself. That is His story throughout all of Scripture — and that is the story He is writing in you.
So here is what I am asking of you today. Before breakfast — before the phone, before the inbox, before the noise of the day crowds in — stop. Two minutes. Speak to God out loud. Tell Him honestly where you are weary today, with no polish on it. And ask Him specifically for the strength this verse promises. Do not merely wish for it. Receive it. Walk out the door having received, not just having wanted.
Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.