The Walking Promise

Life and business can sometimes feel exhausting.

Back in high school and college, I dabbled a little in backpacking.

I don't know if you have ever gone backpacking before, but it's an interesting hobby. You literally strap a bunch of weight on your back and purposely walk for miles and miles through the woods.

If it's a good trail, you get spectacular views. Lakes. Streams. Waterfalls. Places that make you stop and take pictures.

But there are other trails that don't have any of those things.
Just woods. For miles.

You often find yourself walking one foot in front of the other for what feels like forever.

I remember being on some longer trips with more experienced hikers and feeling like I couldn't keep going.

Every part of me wanted to sit down.
Or better yet, get teleported back to the car.

I remember staring at my feet and almost willing them to take the next step.

Just one more.
Then one more.
Then one more.

I think all of us have experienced seasons in life that feel exactly like that.

We're exhausted.
There are no spectacular views.
Nothing exciting seems to be happening.

And all we can do is keep walking.

If I'm honest, those are not my favorite seasons.

I like progress, momentum, and seeing where I'm headed.
I like knowing how much farther I have to go.

But life doesn't usually work that way.

The older I get, the more I realize that the mundane (and sometimes challenging) seasons make up most of life.

But I have come to realize, they are often the seasons that shape us the most.

I heard a quote from Timothy Keller recently that made me think about these seasons we often pray to get out of:

"God will either give us what we ask for in prayer, or give us what we would have asked for if we knew everything He knows."

That quote hit me because I can look back and see seasons I desperately wanted to escape.

Seasons I prayed God would remove.
Seasons I would have skipped if I had the choice.

And yet many of those same seasons ended up being some of the most important seasons of my life.

The hardest seasons in business taught me the most about business.
The hardest seasons in life taught me the most about life and my faith.

If it had been up to me, I would have skipped them.

But in doing so, I would have missed what God was doing through them.

Certain seasons still feel like those backpacking trips.
The kind where you're staring at your feet saying:

Just one more step.

And that's why Isaiah 40 struck me differently the other day as I read the familiar words.

This chapter was written to people living through one of those "just keep walking" seasons.

Israel was in exile. They had lost their land. Their temple. Their festivals. Their sense of identity. Everything familiar was gone.

They were tired, discouraged, and most likely questioning everything.

And into that season God speaks these words:

"Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

I've read that verse countless times.

But I realized something.

The promise doesn't stop with soaring or running.

It ends with walking.

We love the soaring.
Those are the stories we tell.

The miracles.
The breakthroughs.
The moments when God shows up in dramatic ways.

And we understand running.

Those are the seasons when we have momentum. We can see progress. We know where we're headed.

But walking?

Walking is different.

Walking often doesn't have a finish line in sight.
Walking is tiring.
Walking feels mundane and anything but spectacular.
Walking is when all you can do is put one foot in front of the other.
Walking is where most of life happens.

And that's the promise God saves for last.

Those who hope in Him will walk and not faint.

Not just soar.
Not just run.

Walk.

Because sometimes faith looks less like flying and more like taking the next step.

Sometimes strength doesn't feel like power.
Sometimes it feels like endurance.

Sometimes the miracle isn't that God changed your circumstances.
Sometimes the miracle is that He gave you enough strength for one more day.

One more step. One more prayer. One more act of obedience.

The Israelites had experienced soaring.
They had experienced running.

But when Isaiah spoke these words, they were walking.
And God wanted them to know they were not alone.

The same is true for us.

Whatever season you are walking through right now, remember this:

God is not just present in the soaring seasons.
He is not just present in the running seasons.

He is present in the walking seasons too.
The seasons where you can't see the end.
The seasons where you're exhausted.
The seasons where all you can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Those seasons matter.
Those seasons form you.

And those seasons often teach you God's faithfulness in ways the mountaintops never could.

So if you're tired today, keep walking.

God is with you.

And He promises that those who hope in Him will not faint.