Don't Forget To Fly

Don’t Forget To Fly

Isaiah 40:26-31 (King James Version) Pastor Ken Crow

26Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28Hast 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? there is no searching of his understanding.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31But 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; and they shall walk, and not faint.

This morning I believe God is directing us toward verse 31 of our text. In that verse of scripture we see several key words or phrases.

As we move toward the new year many of us are in need of hope, many of us in need of renewal, many of us in need of strength. Some of us who once ran have grown weary and some who have walked have fainted.

Allow me this morning as we begin to share an illustration with you on birds.

I have read that there is in this world over forty species of birds which do not fly. They have feathers. They have wings. They have all the necessary essentials to fly but reasons, and many of those differ, they just do not fly.

Some of the birds live in places where they have no predators, all the food they need and nesting conditions are perfect. They have need of nothing, hence they do not fly. Sound familiar? Jesus to the Laodiceans :

Revelation 3:17 (King James Version)

17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Many times we emulate these birds. We get so comfortable in our mediocrity. We do not like enemies nor do we like adversity but many times in these two things we learn how to fly spiritually again. The year 2009 has dealt many hardships and adversities on many of us but that wind from the storm may well we be our lift to higher heights and greater things in Jesus Christ.

When the wind is at it’s highest is when the eagle can really soar!

Have you ever went out and looked up and spotted an eagle or some other kind of large bird way up in the sky just floating along in the current of the air? I have been told that when those birds get in those wind currents all that they have to do is just hold out those wings.

Before any bird can fly it must extend it’s wings outward and upward!

The Laodecian church had for got how to extend it’s arms in praise and worship to God. Not only that they had forgot how to pray. The primary thing in this Christian walk is prayer and praise. If we leave off those two we will never fly! We can come up with this. We can come up with that but we will never soar spiritually if we do not praise nor will we if we can’t bring ourselves to praise God.

Some birds do not fly because man has clipped their wings.

Domestic bird’s wings are often clipped by the owners to prevent them from flying. Many of us have clipped wings. We have been hurt by other people.

We have been knocked down .We have tried to get up only to get knocked down again.

There are people who do not want us to fly! There is a devil who does not want us to fly.

Look at what happened to Joseph. Let’s look at some scripture in the story of Joseph.

Genesis 37:5 (King James Version)

5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

At this point Joseph was getting ready to fly.

Genesis 37:18-24 (King James Version)

18And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

20Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.