Find new strength in The Lord

Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)

31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles, so strongly, so swiftly, so high and heaven-ward. In the strength of divine grace, their souls shall ascend above the world, and even enter into the holiest. Pious and devout affections are the eagles' wings on which gracious souls mount up, Ps. 25:1. Secondly, They shall press forward, forward towards heaven. They shall walk, they shall run, the way of God's commandments, cheerfully and with alacrity (they shall not be weary), constantly and with perseverance (they shall not faint); and therefore in due season they shall reap. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

Alive, with Ethan Hawke, is the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team, whose plane crashes in the Andes mountains in 1972. The film portrays the struggle of those who survived the crash to maintain hope and stay alive.

The 3-minute clip begins with three of the survivors deciding to leave the crash site and attempting to make it through the mountains to get help. After days of trekking through mountainous terrain, they take a break. While one of them rests just below a mountain peak, Canessa makes his way to the top where Nando (Ethan Hawke) is surveying the scenery.

Canessa looks around at the stunning beauty of numerous mountain ranges, but finds only despair. "Mountains. Nothing but mountains! We've had it. We've completely had it!" Out of breath, he collapses in resignation.

Nando responds, "No, we haven't. Into these mountains somewhere there is a green valley. See the mountains over there? There's no snow on them."

"Those mountains must be 50 miles away. Do you think we can walk 50 miles?" Canessa responds.

"If we have to, we will," says Nando.

Canessa says, "I can't."

"Yes you can."

"I can't. I'm not as strong as you."

Nando walks over to Canessa, kneels beside him, and says: "You know what it is that we've lived this long the way we have? Seventy days. That we climbed these mountains? You know what it is? It's impossible. It's impossible, and we did it. I'm proud to be a man on a day like this. Alive. That I lived to see it. And see it in such a place. Take it in."

He stands up and looks around him. "I love you, man. Look. It's magnificent. It's God. It'll carry us over every stone. I swear. I swear it to you."

Nando turns around to look at Canessa, now standing. They agree to send the third man back to the plane and take his extra food. Nando stands beside Canessa and points. "You see where the sun's going to set. That way's west. Into the west of the green valleys of Chile."

"We're going to die, you know," Canessa insists.

Nando declares, "Maybe. But if we die, we're going to die walking."

They end up making it to safety and return with rescue helicopters to pick up the remaining survivors.

[Alive" (Paramount, 1993), written by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Frank Marshall]

When you feel as though you have no strength to carry on, trust in The Lord and you will find new strength.  You will soar high on wings like eagles. You will run and not grow weary. You will walk and not faint.