WINGS LIKE EAGLE

Transcript

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Hello everyone, this is Pastor Dean Thompson with the word of hope wings like 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. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 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, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah chapter forty verses twenty eight through thirty one. Isaiah forty was written for a people who had run out of strength. Israel was facing exile, and the prophet's opening words comfort ye, comfort ye, my people are addressed to a nation whose endurance has been broken. The chapter pivots in verse 28 on a question, Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard some things are forgotten, not because we never learnt them, but because suffering has worn the memory thin. The prophet does not deliver new information, he recovers old truth. What truth? That God does not get tired. The Hebrew yeah, yeah, faint, and ye anger weary are the very words that four verses later will describe Israel. We exhaust, he does not. The creator who flung galaxies has never had a slow afternoon. Alek Alek Mortier Mortier notes that this is the great consolation. My fatigue is not contagious, he remains strong when I cannot. And yet, here is the wonder. The strong God gives strength to the weak. Verse 29. He giveth power to the faint. The Hebrew Nathan Koat He hands over might. He does not lecture us about toughness, he shares his own resources. Even young men, the strongest of the strong will fall. Verse 30. Whatever you have always relied on. Your discipline, your stamina, your willpower eventually fails. The end of all human strength is where divine strength begins. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The verb kalaf means to exchange. We give him our exertion. He gives us his vitality. It is a swap, not a polish. He does not buff our depleted resources, reserves. He provides his own. And the results? Three pictures in three pictures in three speeds. They mount up with wings as eagle. The rare moments of sorry when faint, when faith feels effortless. They run and are not weary. The productive seasons of work and service, they walk and do not faint. The long, ordinary obedience of the faithful day. Not all of life is equal flight. Most of it is walking. And it is the walking in some ways that requires the most sustained grace. Eugene Peterson wrote a whole book on this verse called and called it a long obedience in the same direction. If you are walking today, slowly, reluctantly, without fun fear, you are doing the deepest work of faith. Wait on the Lord. He will not let you faint. Wait, I say, on the Lord. O everlasting God, O Father, exchange your strength for our weakness. Carry us when we cannot soar. Steady us in our walk and help us to keep our eyes fixed on you and not to turn to the left or the right. Amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters.