A verse, in context
Isaiah 40:31, Wings as Eagles
"They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles" (Isaiah 40:31) is often used as encouragement to push harder and soar higher. In the passage it is comfort for people at the end of their strength, spoken by a God who never grows tired.
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”Isaiah 40:31
How it is often used
How it is often used. This verse is frequently used as motivational fuel, a promise that if you keep faith you will rise above your circumstances, achieve your dreams, and feel strong and unstoppable. The eagle image gets paired with skylines and mountaintops, and "wait upon the LORD" is sometimes read as "keep striving." There is real hope in this, and the promise of renewed strength is genuinely for God's weary people. But the popular use tends to make the verse about personal triumph and high performance, when its setting is exhaustion, exile, and the temptation to think God has forgotten you. "Waiting" here is not striving but a patient, hopeful reliance on God. And the strength promised is the strength to keep going, to "walk, and not faint," as much as to soar.
The passage around it
The passage around it. Isaiah 40 opens the section of comfort to Judah facing or enduring exile: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God" (v1). It magnifies the incomparable greatness of God, who measures the waters in the hollow of His hand (v12) and before whom the nations are as a drop in a bucket (v15). Near the end the prophet addresses a discouraged people who feel overlooked: "Why sayest thou, O Jacob... My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?" (v27). The answer is God's inexhaustible strength: "the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary" (v28). "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength" (v29). Even young men grow weary and fall (v30). Then comes the promise: those who wait upon the LORD, the God who never faints, will renew their strength, mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint (v31).
What it actually means, and where it leads
What it actually means, and where it leads. This is comfort for the exhausted, not a slogan for the ambitious. To people who feel forgotten by God and are at the end of their own strength, Isaiah points to the everlasting God who never grows tired and who shares His strength with those who wait on Him. "Waiting" is patient, hopeful dependence on the LORD rather than reliance on one's own might, which the passage says fails even in the strongest. The promise moves from soaring to running to walking, and the climax is arguably the most ordinary: to "walk, and not faint," the strength simply to keep going through a long, weary road. This leads to Christ, in whom God draws near to the weary; Jesus invited, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). The strength on offer is not self-generated performance but the borrowed, renewing strength of the God who does not faint.
Questions people ask
Is this verse about achieving my dreams?
Not really. It is comfort for exhausted, discouraged people who feel forgotten by God. The strength promised is God's own renewing strength for the weary, including the humble strength to keep walking and not faint, rather than a promise of personal triumph.
What does it mean to "wait upon the LORD"?
It means patient, hopeful dependence on God rather than reliance on your own might, which the passage says fails even in the strongest. Waiting here is trust and expectation directed toward the God who never grows weary.
Why does the verse go from flying to walking?
It moves from mounting up with wings, to running, to walking, and the plainest promise, to "walk, and not faint," is arguably the deepest. It assures the weary of strength to keep going through long, ordinary hardship, not only for dramatic heights.