Sunday, November 9, 2014

Even a turkey can soar with the eagles

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31)

What I love about these verses is that God, the creator of all things, never gets tired of me. He never faints in despair at my frailties and shortcomings. He who has all strength is willing to keep strengthening me, when I would have given up on me ages ago. What's more, he takes me at whatever level I am. If I can fly, he gives me wings. If I cannot fly but can at least run, he will strengthen my running. And if all I can do is walk, he'll keep me going. The pace doesn't matter to God, only the direction and the willingness to give it my all.

The key is to "wait upon the Lord". One sense of "waiting" is "anticipating with expectation". To wait is not to sit down and do nothing. It is doing everything I can and then expecting a miracle, because God is a God of miracles - always has been and always will be. He made the ends of the earth without getting tired. Surely he can make something out of me.

To "wait" on someone is also to serve them, like the waitress who brought me a sandwich and a piece of pie last night. When I wait upon (i.e., serve) God, my strength is renewed. Now matter how tired I get in his service, he pumps me back up and sets me on the course for the next round.

If I wait upon the Lord (which means serving without worrying about running out of strength, and expecting miracles from the God of miracles), I believe that even turkeys like me can someday soar with the eagles.