December 12 – Weak Hands, Feeble Knees, Anxious Heart

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” – Isaiah 35:3-4 (ESV)

Through His prophets, God spoke to His people and gave them instruction and encouragement. He also warned them what would happen if they did not believe and the blessings for those who did believe. We have considered the promise of God that He is our eternal source of encouragement and today’s verse shows us a way we are encouraged. An anxious heart comes from fear. Fear comes from not trusting in God’s promises. These words are interesting because they mention feeble hands and knees that give way. But it is also clear that weak hands and shaky knees are caused by fearful hearts. So, what the Lord promises us is that He will come and He will strengthen our hearts so that we do not need to fear. When we trust him to help us not be afraid, that will make our hands and our knees strong. When we have needs like this in our lives our God is aware of them and He promises to come to help us. If we know that God will respond in this way, it encourages us to depend on Him and press on, whatever is ahead in our path.

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April 18 – Don’t Weave on The Path


“Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.” – Hebrews 12:12 (NASB)


The unusual visual of the language in our verse is drawn from a prophecy given in Isaiah 35. This is a picture of what will happen for the believers when the Lord comes again. The next sentence encourages those who are discouraged to ‘Be strong and don’t be afraid. This is a common experience – weak hands and feeble knees – especially as we get older. But even the young have weak faith and drooping arms with week knees. How are we to strengthen our hands and knees? Listen to the author’s encouragement as a coach. There is more of the race left to run, it is not the time to allow weakness and feebleness so, don’t quite yet. Take care to watch where we are walking and follow the path that is level. God will make our path straight (Proverbs 3:6). Throughout our lives we have choices of which paths we will walk. If we make sure to take the level path or to make our way level and straight, then all our ways will be sure (Proverbs 4:26-27). As we walk we are told to not swerve back and forth. No flip-flopping. And very important, let’s turn away from evil.

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December 12 – Feeble Hands, Shaky Knees

“Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”,” Isaiah 35: 3-4 (NASB)

We have looked in the past and considered the promise of our eternal source of encouragement and today’s verse shows us a way we are encouraged. These words are interesting because they mention exhausted and feeble knees that give way. The ‘exhausted’ are those with slack hands. The ‘feeble’ are those with tottering knees. They have become worn out and need new energy. But it is also clear that weak hands and shaky knees are caused by fearful hearts. So, what the Lord promises us is that He will come and He will strengthen our hearts so that we do not need to fear. When we trust him to help us not fear, that will make our hands and our knees strong. When we have needs like this in our lives our God is aware of them and He promises to come to help us. If we know that God will respond in this way, it encourages us to depend on Him and press on, whatever is ahead in our path.

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