Monday, October 26, 2026

Prefer to listen instead? The audio version of this article is available at relateecm.com.

This audio is AI-narrated and may mispronounce some names and places.

Good morning, friends! Pull up a chair on the porch — Uncle Ricky, Biscuit, and Olive have a verse to share with you today.

Uncle Ricky: Good Monday morning, friends! Come on out on the porch — the weekend is behind us, a brand-new week is in front of us, and Uncle Ricky has a word for anybody who woke up already tired just thinking about it.

Biscuit: That is me, Uncle Ricky. I made a list for this week, and the list has a list. By the time I finished writing it all down, I needed a nap from the writing.

Olive: I tried to get a head start! I flew three laps around the yard before breakfast to warm up for the week. Three! And now my wings say the week can start without me.

Uncle Ricky: Ha! Well, you two have run — and flown — us straight to today’s Scripture. This is God’s promise through Isaiah for weary people facing a long road. Listen to Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31: “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.”

Biscuit: Wait upon the LORD? Uncle Ricky, waiting is the one thing I am worst at. Waiting feels like doing nothing. And I have got a whole week to DO.

Uncle Ricky: That is an honest confession, Biscuit, and most of us could say the same. But waiting on the LORD in the Bible is not sitting around doing nothing. It is staying close to Him, looking to Him, trusting Him to supply what you do not have. Like a traveler stopping at a well before a long walk — that stop is not wasted time. That stop is where the strength for the walk comes from.

Olive: So waiting is where the strength comes from! Not after we are strong — before!

Uncle Ricky: Exactly right, Olive. And look at the promise: they shall RENEW their strength. Renew means He trades our worn-out strength for fresh strength of His. We bring Him our tired, and He does not just patch it up — He renews it. Now isn’t that exciting?

Biscuit: Okay, but here’s my real question. It says mount up with wings as eagles. I have watched eagles, Uncle Ricky. They do not flap and flap like everything depends on their wings. They just… stretch out and ride the wind.

Uncle Ricky: Now you’re preaching, Biscuit! That is the picture exactly. The eagle’s secret is not stronger flapping — it is catching a wind bigger than itself. And that is what waiting on the LORD does for us on a Monday morning. We stop flapping in our own strength and let His Spirit lift what we never could lift alone. I’d call that a gift from God, wouldn’t you?

Olive: And then it says run and not be weary, and WALK and not faint. Even the walking part counts! Most of my week is not running. Most of it is just walking — one ordinary day at a time.

Uncle Ricky: Oh, I love that you caught that, Olive. God promises strength for the soaring days, strength for the running days, and — hear this, friends — strength for the plain old walking days too. Most of life is walking: the work, the chores, the caring for family, the showing up again on Tuesday and Wednesday. And He says you shall walk, and not faint. He has strength saved up for the ordinary steps.

Biscuit: Hmm. So maybe my problem isn’t that the week is too big. Maybe my problem is I tried to carry the whole week on Monday morning, in my own strength, all before breakfast.

Uncle Ricky: Son, you just said a mouthful of truth. God never asked you to carry the whole week today. He asks you to wait on Him today, receive today’s renewed strength today, and trust Him that tomorrow He will renew it again. One day of strength for one day of walking — and He has never once run out.

Olive: Then I’m waiting on Him first, and flying second! Stretch out, catch His wind, and let Him do the lifting!

Biscuit: And I’m bringing Him my list — the list and its list. Number one helper reporting for Monday duty — waiting first, then walking, and not fainting!

Uncle Ricky: Ha! That’s the spirit, both of you. Friends, let’s pray together. Father, thank You for this Monday, and thank You for Your promise to renew the strength of those who wait upon You. Forgive us for rushing into our weeks flapping in our own strength. Teach us to stay close to You, to trust You for today, and to walk this week without fainting because You are walking with us. Renew every weary friend listening right now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Uncle Ricky: Wait upon the LORD this week, friends. Bring Him your tired, bring Him your list, and let Him renew your strength — you shall walk, and not faint, because He never will. Doesn’t that make you feel great?

— Uncle Ricky

A little something from the shop: our “Wings As Eagles — Isaiah 40:31” design is in the Uncle Ricky’s Bible shop now — on shirts, mugs, and more. Every purchase helps keep the daily devotion and the chapter readings coming to you. Find it at relateecm.com/shop/ — and thank you kindly for being part of this family.