With Wings like Eagles

​Isaiah 40:30-31 ~ “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
 
We are near the end of the year and you might be feeling the weariness of the time. The seasons have changed from winter through summer and back to winter again, and the days have grown long and short and all along the way you have walked and, perhaps, groaned under the burden of the things of this life. Do not be dismayed. The LORD knows your strength is limited and understands your way is hard. As we push toward the end of this year, let me encourage you with the hope that is found in God’s word.
 
As we look upon our text today, we find a familiar truth laid before us, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.” The sentiment among most people is to believe that youth have a capacity for unlimited energy. We see them at play, watch them engage in athletic competitions and see them strive to attain feats of strength and endurance. But even they shall faint and be weary. And if youths are prone to the limitations of the human condition, what hope is there for those who have grown beyond those years? We look to young men to be the strong backs of the fellowship of God’s people. There is so much confidence in their endurance that young men are sent to fight the conflicts of the nations. But even those young men shall fall exhausted. Where can we look when youthful vigor cannot endure the rigors of life? We fight against circumstances and we might as well war against the wind. For all our effort, we never gain one moment’s advantage. Until we begin to understand that we are powerless in our own strength we will not look to the power of God. Let us not forget what our LORD told us in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
 
Let us do as our text entreats, “but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength.” There is a necessary component to the spiritual renewal that God would give to those who trust in Him. That component is: wait. It is a dreadful thing to grow impatient with God Almighty. How much of our anxiety and hand-wringing comes when we have not sought the LORD and trusted in Him? We do not wait for the LORD and we find that we keep growing weary and wanting, lacking strength and vitality to pursue the life of faith that is before us. But if we would prayerfully wait, looking to the LORD, a renewal is promised. We read in Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Has your strength failed in your self-effort to try and accomplish the will of God? Have you made plans and decided the means by which God’s purposes should be fulfilled? To wait on God is to have more than a wishful longing for better days or a sentimental musing over the Scriptures. We are called to wait in hopeful expectation—to wait in obedience to His word until He fulfills all that He has promised.
 
When our strength is renewed in Him, we find that we have the means to pursue His will. Our text describes it thus: “they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” There is a renewing of strength and endurance for those who seek the LORD. Psalm 84:7 says, “They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.” From little strength to great strength, the LORD’s people walk this world with a constant promise of renewal as we wait upon Him. Such strength is needed in the times of trial, when the pressure mounts to give in to the world and the desire to turn back increases. Remember what Paul instructed in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” So, my friends, do not lose heart. We are being renewed continually in Christ.
 
Let us then, as we gaze back upon the year behind us, look to see all those times when God had renewed our strength, when He had propped us up one more time and given us the endurance to carry on in His will. Through prayer and faithfulness to His word we discovered a continual support from His Spirit. It shall always be so for those who wait on the LORD.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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