'Even youths grow tired and weary, young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on the wings of eagles.' Isaiah 40:30I have always found certain Bible verses to be a bit cliched, always written on calenders, quoted on sympathy cards or given without really much thought about their meaning just because they sound comforting. I have to say that this verse is one of them! I have heard it a thousand times and it's been good, solid head knowledge at times but I am tired of scriptures being head knowledge and not bringing change. I desire heart knowledge, God's reality and life in the deepest places, in the inner compartments and spaces that only me and God know about, the soul and spirit touched with his balm.
We were on a day trip around the Golan Heights. These mountains climb up from the shores of Galillee and extend beyond Israel's borders into Syria and Lebanon. They are known to be a great natural beauty with the famous Hula Valley running from them with its thousands of varieties of migrating birds. As we drove higher and higher, the scorching Galilee heat dissolved and cooler breezes comforted us. The landscape, vast and largely uninhabited was filled with nothing, except the natural landscape or the odd car and house. As we drove along the Syrian border we saw the remains of old tanks left over from wars and the many land mine signs, warning of danger, reminded us that this piece of land, given to the Jews by God all those years before, was still in a battle today, trying to keep its borders.
As we circled the north eastern road feeling strangely alone, we caught sight of one of God's most beautiful creatures. The eagle was soaring in a cloudless sky, gliding effortlessly through the calm air, its wingspan stretching out into distant lands, so majestic, so full of strength and beauty. It was a breath taking sight, a personal performance of dance just for us, serenely and gracefully soaring higher and higher until the show was over and we lost sight of the performer. I was immediately reminded of the verse 'they will soar on wings of eagles.' What does that mean, Lord? I asked. He never really answered.
Our journey continued onto the great Mount Hermon, and through tiny Druze villages where we stopped at roadside restaurants and were greeted by toothless smiling faces. We found breath- taking waterfalls, cascading down through the mountain ranges on their way south. We arrived at Israel's most northen town, a place we frequented many times when we were in Israel 7 years previously. We found the 'good fence' which borders Lebanon, and could have waved to the Lebanese neighbours but were reminded of the conflict by the bored young soldier guards staring at us, the Israeli intelligence mounted on masts on every mountain peak and our knowledge that this town was strewn with holes from mortar rocket attacks. We continued down through the Hula valley, back towards the claustraphobic heat of the Galilee basin. As we descended down through the windy, sheep scattered slopes and hills, I saw again another eagle meandering its own way through the sky.
As I viewed it in all its glory, solitary in the unlittered sky, I thought again of that verse. When I am weak and tired, where do I go? Do I go to Him or to others? Do I try and escape or hedge myself in by worrying, or do I, like that eagle, retreat to a place of solitude, a place of beauty, where the troubles of the earth grow strangely dim as I take off higher and higher with my Lord? Do I choose to rise up into the air and glide effortlessly through the cool refreshing air, away from the heat below, the landscape with its littered war tanks and memories of battles, disappointments, wounds and tears? As I pondered that verse I thought that the secret of it was in the word 'hope' - 'those that hope in Lord will renew their strength'. We hope in the Lord, not in our wisdom, our circumstances changing, or gritting our teeth and hoping that things will get better. When we are tired and weary and have stumbled and fallen we look to the Lord, the only hope that can truly satisfy, the one who will pick us up and help lift us to that place of peace and joy. Just as the eagle enjoys the safety of the unbroken sky, so we can find our refuge and strength in our eternal God.
It is an inner strength, a change in our hearts from a place of despair to a place of peace. God knows the reality of our weakness because Jesus knew that place. He is compassionate and caring and longs for us to be filled with his peace and strength, knowing that it will accomplish not just joy in our hearts but freedom from our flesh, and glory for him. It is all well and good knowing and reciting these scriptures but there is life and power when we experience them in our spirit and know the joy of intimacy with the one who spoke them. It isn't always easy, sometimes we just don't seem to have any effort left to pray but others can pray for us and God knows anyway. Isn't his promise that his grace is sufficient for us when we are most weak? As the psalmist says, 'find rest, O my soul, in God alone, my hope comes from him, he alone is my rock and salvation; he is my fortress, I shall not be shaken.' Psalm 62:5-6
