In this season of economic stress, many of us have had to lower our expectations. We have struggled in new ways and are asking God hard questions as we see our need for his help. And our children have had an even more difficult time navigating an era of fewer choices. 37% of them can't find work.

But the good news is that after a year or more out ofwork, some are coming to the end of themselves.

Let's say you get to a place in your life when you're tired of trying to do things in your own
strength. You're prepared to wait on God - to depend on him. What then? What can you expect to happen as a result? Isaiah 40 says that "those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles." Obviously that's a metaphor - what does that look like?

I remember a lady in a church I attended telling me about her degenerative nerve condition. She had gotten to the point where she was hunched over and couldn't walk. She was desperate - waiting on God, pleading with him for a miracle. He didn't respond and it got worse. But she didn't give up and kept praying.

She described how one evening as she was praying, something that looked like lightening shot in the open window, through her body and left her tingling. When she stood to her feet and checked herself out, she saw that she had been completely healed!

Over and over again in Scripture, we see examples of desperate people waiting, palms up before the Lord and then him answering their cry for help. David and his men at Ziklag, Abraham ready to sacrifice Isaac, Moses backed up against the Red Sea, Paul before the Sanhedrin. The list goes on and on. We see God's people dependent, then God shows up in power.

So many of you reading this blog are in a tough spot in your life and you need God to show up. You've expended your reserves - I see it in the comments you leave and I see it when you write me to pour out your pain in a more private way. And I see it when I have conversations with my friends late at night.

You have been slogging it out for too long, calling out to God. Some of you have found ways of medicating the pain that brings. If I could do something to make it easier on you, I would, and I know that others who are with me in this journey would as well. We want you to win. We want to see you get your breakthrough.

You were made to soar. All I can tell you is to wait upon the Lord.