Walking to New Heights!
The 40th chapter of Isaiah brings a significant change to the prophet’s message from judgment and pain to comfort and hope. Chapter 40 ends with the powerful promise of verses 30 and 31:
30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31 but those 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.
Many people are familiar with the first part of verse 31 – about waiting for the Lord, renewing strength, and mounting up with wings like eagles. Anyone who has ever seen a still picture of a soaring eagle or better yet, a video clip of an eagle flying, knows what a striking image that is of freedom, strength, and majesty. Little wonder so many have turned this into a memory verse.
I would, however, suggest there is a deeper, more profound message Isaiah wants us to hear. In Hebrew poetry, (and English as well), when there is a series of thoughts, the rule of thumb is to move from the least important to the most important thought. Applying that to this verse would make walking and not fainting more important than mounting up with wings like eagles. Could it be that Isaiah uses the image of the flying eagle to grab our attention and sharpen our awareness for the punch line – to walk and not faint? I believe it is.
Perhaps you are saying but walking is so ordinary and mundane. I think that is precisely the point. As we wait on God, we learn to trust God. And as we grow in our trust of God, our faith grows and matures. What better arena could there be than the ordinary, everyday, often mundane parts of our lives. Often, they can be unglamorous and too easily ignored. That is a mistake on our part. God isn’t just present in the breath-taking moments. When we discover God in the ordinary, we come to understand that every moment, every situation, and every place is filled with God’s presence – sometimes mysterious, sometimes cleverly disguised, and sometimes requiring a deeper trust in God’s redeeming power.
A mentor shared the experience of sitting on the couch holding hands with his wife. Tired from the day’s activities, she fell asleep. Sitting there, he was struck by the many ways those hands were tangible expressions of God’s loving presence in their lives. He thought of all the diapers washed and changed, the gentle tapping to burp a baby, the countless loads of wash and ironing, the meals made, the hugs given, the cuts cleaned and bandaged, the tears wiped dry, the loving hugs, and on and on. He realized God was showing him holy hands and was moved to tears.
God is present in the ordinary. Isaiah wants us to know this. It is walking and not fainting that helps us to soar to new heights of faith. We need to walk before we can fly!
Grace and Peace, John