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.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
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.
My God, is this for me? Can it be so?
What does it really mean to "mount up with wings like eagles"?
Is this all about the Great Day, when at last the Bride Groom returns for his Bride, and all the promises are fulfilled?
Or can it be for today? Can it be for this morning? Shall I, wide awake and in my right mind, have the sense of soaring, the whole landscape spreading beneath me?
Are we not really talking about freedom here, with this metaphor of the soaring eagle? Freedom from fear, from weariness, from the long, slow downward spiral toward death? Freedom, ultimately, from the last enemy?
Dear Lord, we are a faint-hearted people, mostly. We are a people of little faith, like the Apostles. With our timorous hearts, we are easily swayed. The world has taught us to be careful, to be fearful. In truth, we cannot even imagine what "mounting up on wings like eagles" must be like. So when I read these lines of Isaiah's this morning, they provoke me to ask, Lord, that you give me more faith? Make me strong in faith, and brave in faith, and free in faith, and fearless in faith. This is your world. We are your people. Jesus has won our salvation forever. Help us to turn this knowledge into whole-hearted praise and thanksgiving, then send us forth in confidence and joy. Amen
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