Monday Morning Pause
Isaiah 40:31
“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.”
There is something wonderfully joyful about Disney’s Dumbo the Flying Elephant. You climb into your elephant, rise into the air, and circle high above the ground.
Of course, the ride comes from the story of Dumbo—the little elephant born with ears that seemed much too big. At first, those ears were something others noticed, laughed at, and treated as a weakness.
But eventually, Dumbo discovered something surprising.
The very thing that made him different was the thing that allowed him to fly.
I wonder how often we look at something about ourselves and wish it were different.
Maybe we feel we aren’t talented enough, confident enough, experienced enough, young enough, old enough, strong enough—or simply enough.
We can become so focused on what we think limits us that we miss what God might be able to do through it.
Isaiah reminds us that our ability to “soar” doesn’t ultimately come from having everything together. It comes from placing our hope in God.
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.”
Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly works through unlikely people and unexpected circumstances. God doesn’t always remove our weaknesses or limitations. Sometimes God meets us right there and transforms them into places where grace, strength, compassion, courage, and purpose can emerge.
The experience that made you more tender toward others.
The struggle that taught you perseverance.
The disappointment that redirected your path.
The part of yourself you once wished were different that now allows you to connect with someone who needs exactly what you have to offer.
What if the thing you have considered a limitation isn’t the end of your story?
What if God can use even that?
Dumbo needed to discover that his oversized ears weren’t keeping him on the ground.
They were his wings.
Pause & Reflect
What is something about yourself or your story that you have tended to see as a weakness or limitation?
How might God already be working through it?
Where have you experienced God’s strength when your own strength wasn’t enough?
And perhaps the question to carry with you today is this:
What if the very thing I think is holding me back could become a place where God helps me fly?
Prayer
Gracious God,
sometimes we are quick to notice
our weaknesses, limitations, and imperfections.
We compare ourselves to others
and wonder whether we have enough
or whether we are enough.
Help us see ourselves through your eyes.
Renew our strength when we are weary.
Give us courage when we are uncertain.
And take even those places
we consider weaknesses
and use them for your purposes.
Teach us to place our hope in you,
trusting that with your strength beneath us,
we may discover that we were made to fly.
Amen.
Copyright © 2026 Ronda Welander
