Response to Waiting for Eagle’s Wings Post

pexel eagle1After the worship service last Sunday when I preached from Isaiah 40 on Waiting for Eagle’s Wings (see earlier post), I was approached by a woman from our congregation.  She told me that she had written a song that fit incredibly well with what I had preached that morning.  She then sang that song for me.  I was amazed at how well it expressed what I had been talking about in the sermon.  It says in I Corinthians 14:26, “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”  (ESV).  I believe this is something that she had to share with us, so I have asked her permission to post this song on our website.  Here is her song:

 

Lord I Need You

Rebecca Heerdt

 

Lord I need you,

I’m broken and worn down.

The battle is so hard Lord,

Can’t do it on my own.

 

Here I stand,

Worn and weak,

Waiting on You, Lord,

Your strength I need.

 

To run and not grow weary,

To walk and not faint.

To rise up with wings like an eagle.

Lord renew me again.

 

Here I stand,

Quiet and still.

Waiting on You, Lord.

I seek Your will.

 

Here I stand,

Waiting for You,

Here I stand,

I’m waiting on You.

 

Thanks for sharing that Rebecca!

Waiting for Eagle’s Wings

pexel eagle2One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Isaiah 40:27-31: 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 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.

I believe that we all wrestle with the kinds of questions we see in verse 27.  We all have times in our lives where we wonder if God sees what we are going through or if he does see us we wonder why he isn’t stepping in to fix things.

Verse 28 reminds us that God is the Creator and that he is all-powerful and all-knowing.  We know that to be true, but in the midst of tough times in our lives it is hard to not have questions about why God does not seem to be saving us from the trouble we are facing.

Verses 29-30 go on to remind us that God is in the business of giving strength to the weary and that it is normal for us to be weary at times.  We are all going to face times where our strength is waning physically, spiritually and emotionally.

And all of that leads us to verse 31, which is an often used verse that gives us the image of God swooping in like an eagle to carry us away from the trouble we are facing.  At least that is what I used to think it was talking about.  However, after closer examination it seems like the point of this passage is not God saving me from the tough things in life, but rather renewing my strength and helping me to grow in the midst of my struggles.

Notice that verse 31 does not say that we will be carried away on eagle’s wings, but rather that we will mount up with wings like eagles.  It seems to indicate more along the lines of the wings being developed in us.  That also fits with the focus on the Lord renewing our strength so that we can continue to walk and to run even though we are weary.

I think one of the most important words in this passage is the word “Wait.”  I believe that waiting implies an expectation that someone is going to show up.  Like when I am waiting for a friend, I am waiting because I am expecting that friend to show up.  If I didn’t expect him to show up, I would not be waiting for him.  Waiting on the Lord implies that we are expecting him to show up.  But I think often in the midst of my troubles I don’t really have the expectation that God is going to show up.  Or if I do expect him to show up my expectation is that he is going to deliver me from the tough stuff that I am going through.  But that is not what I see in these verses.

This passage is saying that in the midst of tough times I should wait in expectation for the Lord to show up and renew my strength and to help me continue to walk through what I am facing and in the midst of it even to grow in such a way that I will be better able to handle all that I am going to face in this life.

The Meaning of Life

Ecclesiastes is an interesting book.  It is the ruminations of one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth.  We find King Solomon sharing some very profound statements as he philosophizes over the meaning of life.  If you have never given this book much time, I encourage you to give it a chance and examine this thought-provoking essay for yourself.

In Ecclesiastes we find verses that have been the inspiration for songs, “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.”  (Ecc. 3:1)  We find one of my favorite verses of all time, “When the clouds are heavy, the rains come down.  When a tree falls, whether south or north, there it lies.” (Ecc. 11:3)  We find practical warnings,such as, “Laziness lets the roof leak, and soon the rafters begin to rot.”  (Ecc. 10:18)  And we find a scathing rebuke of greed, “Those who love money will never have enough.  How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!”  (Ecc. 5:10)

At the end of the book we find a powerful conclusion, “Here is my final conclusion.  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.”  (Ecc. 12:13) That is a fitting ending that brings the book full circle and provides meaning in the midst of a bunch of meaninglessness.  But one of my favorite portions of this book actually comes a little before the end as the author seems to put his wisdom into place.  In chapter 9 he writes this, “This reminded me that no one can discover everything God has created in our world, no matter how hard they work at it.  Not even the wisest people know everything, even if they say they do.”  (Ecc. 9:17)

Throughout this book we see Solomon wrestling with the meaning of life and it seems that even with all of his wisdom, power, and money that he still finds life meaningless from an earthly perspective.  It is only when he sets his eyes Heavenward that life begins to take on meaning as we see in his conclusion.  But along the way Solomon needed to put his own wisdom and powers of observation in place.  He needed to realize that he does not have all the answers, even though he was one of the wisest men to walk the earth.  Ultimately wisdom must begin with the fear of the Lord.  We need to start with God if we are to find any purpose or meaning to life.

I do encourage you to give Ecclesiastes some time.  And if you are interested in talking more about this subject, please feel free to send me an email or give me a call.  Or better yet, stop by Dunn Bros. in downtown Chaska some afternoon and let’s have a chat.

The Happy Ending

I like to read.  I read non-fiction books to help with my ministry, leadership, spiritual development, and other things and then in my spare time I also enjoy reading fiction.  Lately I have been enjoying some of Clive Cussler’s novels. 

Today as I was reading, I was getting drawn into the suspense and intrigue of the story and I was wondering how it was all going to work out.  There were a lot of twists and turns and a few times the story began heading in a direction that seemed to lead to an outcome I would not be pleased with.  But then I realized that regardless of what new development came up in the story, everything was eventually going to work out in the end.  

In Cussler’s novels the good guys always win, the storyline always gets resolved, everything eventually works out for the best.  Actually, most fiction is like that.  Not all, but the majority of fiction novels eventually wind up with things working out in the end.  That is one of the nice things about reading.  It means that you can enjoy reading the book, you can experience the adventure and the intrigue and yet all the while you can know that everything will work out in the end. 

As I was thinking about that, I realized that in reality that is true with our life in Christ as well.  Life is filled with ups and downs.  Things don’t always go our way.  We have our share of hardships and difficulties along with our joys and triumphs.  Life is an adventure, it is filled with intriguing possibilities.  We may not enjoy everything that happens along the way, but ultimately, if we are in Christ, we can be assured that everything will work out in the end. 

We already know how things are going to turn out.  One day the Lord will return to usher in His Kingdom. Life as we know it will come to an end, but there will be a new Heaven and a new earth and we will spend eternity with our Lord.  We can be assured of that good ending if we are in Christ. 

That amazing fact allows us to look at life here on earth in a different way.  We can approach this life with peace, knowing that no matter what happens, God’s victory is secure.  Everything will come together at the end of the story.  So I encourage you with those words.