Isaiah 40:28-31
Have
you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
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. (NLT)
This is my favorite scripture (especially Isaiah 40:31 - 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.) in the entire Bible. It brings me joy and I can see soaring with wings as eagles in my mind’s eye. It provides the most inspiring of God’s promises. I carry it in my wallet. I have a cross stitch of it on a wall in my home.
We like to go to Barr State Park in February. The bald eagles are very active this time of year; they are building nests, laying eggs, catching fish. They soar so gracefully over the lake. They are beautiful and graceful. I love watching them and they look so free and majestic. Can you imagine soaring with them? They are one of God’s many marvelous gifts to us.
For those of us that have struggled and felt lost, this invitation in Isaiah 40:31 to wait upon the Lord and soar high on the wings of eagles, brings us strength, hope, light, and love. God invites us to soar, to run, to walk in faith as we are showered in his love. It provides us with strength, resilience, energy, and freedom from earthly things.
As we near the end of Lent this year, we can sense the beginning to an end of a very difficult time for everyone on earth, this scripture is an amazing promise to followers of Jesus. We have waited “patiently” (somewhat) for the end of this horrible pandemic, we have also waited patiently for the end of Lent and the joyous rising of Jesus Christ, as our Savior and Redeemer.
From Magnificent Life Ministries:
The spirit of the Lord is our light and righteousness. It is the light that shines through us when we wait patiently and don’t give up. It is the light that illuminates our hearts and minds when we wait for God to reveal to us the divine promises. Likewise, it is the light that guides us when we are weary and discouraged, even when we mount up with wings as eagles.
Psalm 37:34 says, “Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.”
Of course, the philosophy behind this call is that we must be willing to let go of what no longer serves us; things we cannot control or change, things that drain our energy and makes us feel like we have nothing left to offer. But if we allow God to operate in us with an open-minded and receptive soul, then life will begin to unfold in ways that we never dreamed possible. It’s a beautiful thing to wait on God because we will rise by waiting on the Lord.
Wonderful things happen to those who wait for God to work in them. They receive strength, renew life, never tired or weary when they run through the desert of life. They are refreshed and renewed by his presence, the burden of life becomes lighter and lighter. Where we mount on eagle’s wings, we become more confident to return to life’s duties to display our talents and gifts. Will you wait on God? I hope so. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
By David Reay (excerpted):
There are two unhelpful responses to the challenges of life. One is to surrender to defeatism, to conclude it is all too much and simply give up. The other is to assume some sort of superman pose and imagine we soar serenely above any problems that confront other mere mortals. Our text suggests another way, and it has to do with how eagles fly.
The experts on eagles tell us that these birds are able to fly in challenging conditions because they are able to tilt their wings so as to negotiate the stormy currents of air. It is not as if they just avoid the storms. Rather they adjust to them. They can actually use the buffeting winds to help them fly.
So we are not encouraged to blissfully dismiss the troubles of life, to presume that because we follow Jesus we are somehow immune from them. Or at least we can avoid the pain and grief that is part of human life. We are encouraged to tilt our wings in a way that may not sidestep the storm but will allow us to get through it.
And we do not surrender to despair. We are given God’s own strength to get through. We don’t have to manufacture our own tenacity and power. God gives us his resources. We don’t “tilt our wings” all on our own. Soaring like eagles may not mean a smooth ride, but it may mean a safe destination.
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