ON EAGLE’S WINGS
Isaiah 40:27-31
Ask for a show of hands – keep them up!
Who is tired today? How many are weary? Who is discouraged? Who has had a rough week? Who is facing a difficulty or trial that seems insurmountable? Who feels burdened today with a concern or question?
Welcome to the human race! I don’t think it was a mistake when the coined the phrase “The human race”. Sometimes we feel like we are running a marathon, and getting no where fast. Some days I feel like I’m retreating rather than advancing. Some weeks I feel as if I’m just hanging on by a thread hoping for the rapture.
We live in a society that is plagued with a lack of sleep, low energy, discouragement, rampant depression, and a loss of joy. The signs are everywhere you look: Addictive behaviors that seek to satisfy some empty spot in the soul, angry people with angry attitudes, hospitals and clinics that are filled with people who are physically fine, but spiritually sick, overwhelmed, overburdened, and often isolated.
Listen to this one lament of a housewife and mother:
Make the beds, bandage heads,
Straighten up the room;
Wash the windows, cut the grass,
See the tulips bloom.
Drive the children to school,
Drive them back again.
Have the Cubs meeting
Then I clean the den.
Serve on my committee,
Attend the P.T.A.
Forgot to buy the children shoes . . . .
Can’t do it today.
Pay the bills, write a note,
Fill the cookie jar.
Oh, dear, I forgot to go
And have them grease the car.
Catch up on the ironing,
Scrub the kitchen floor.
Answer phone and doorbell,
Need I list some more!
My pet peeve I must admit,
You will surely agree,
When someone asks: “Are you employed?”
I answer: “No, not me.”
The average day lived in Chester County can be exhausting. We are a weary people. And it shows!
Unfortunately, one of the first places that it shows is in our lack of energy for the eternal things of God. It seems harder and harder to find time to be quiet before the Lord. Prayer, devotions, and fellowship with the body of Christ often take a back seat to paying our bills, keeping our cars running, and finding time for all the other pressing priorities of life. And though we know in our hearts that there is a need to serve the Lord and to minister within our communities, we just don’t seem to have the time or energy to do it.
As one observer recently put it: “The devil’s greatest strategy in the 21st century is to keep us busy.”
Life beats you up. People disappoint. And sometimes you feel all alone in your battle to follow the Lord.
But my sermon this morning is not intended to shame us into greater commitment. My goal is not to rebuke you, but it is to look once again at the principle of renewal the Lord has put in place. You see we ALL GROW WEARY! We all FACE INSURMOUNTABLE MOUNTAINS! We all HAVE BURDENS AND SORROWS WE CARRY.
We are not distinguished from one another by the loads we bear!
We are distinguished from one another by the God who carries us!
Let me say that again!
Turn with me to a very familiar passage in Isaiah 40:27-31
O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? Have you never heard or understood? Don’t you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
To begin this morning let me give you a little math formula to memorize this message by:
No God = weary
Know God = strength
Trust in self = weary
Trust in God = strength
Four times in these short verses we have the word weary repeated over and over! The weariness of man is contrasted with the lack of weariness in God. What makes the difference? And how can I get more of God in me? That is the question of this morning’s message.
Let’s pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us now!
1. It is contrary to God’s nature to be weary!
God just doesn’t grow tired. He neither slumbers, nor sleeps! Now you may say – didn’t God rest on the seventh day? Yes, He did, but not because He was weary. The Sabbath rest of God meant the work was done – Creation was complete.
He rested from His creative work, because it was all accomplished. And His resting is a model for us to follow in our lives. Some of us are weary, because we have turned our backs on the principle of the Sabbath rest. We had disobeyed God’s directive and we work 7 days a week. No wonder we are a nation of unrest.
God does not grow weary. His strength does not dissipate. He does not have surges of energy and strength followed by periods of inactivity and inability.
Notice how Isaiah stresses the character of God in verse 28
Have you never heard or understood? Don’t you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
First, don’t you know that God is everlasting!
Forget the bunny that keeps going, and going, and going! God is the one who keeps going! He is beyond the scope of time and space. To Him our lifetime is shorter than a sneeze. A thousand years are but a day in His sight. He does not run out or run down.
He isn’t like the sun which is diminishing in its light and heat and will eventually burn itself out. He isn’t like you and me. We start out full of pep and energy.
Several years ago we took into our home 2 little kittens while we still had our 15 year old cat. What a contrast in energy. The little kittens would get these sudden bursts of energy and go zooming around the house, hopping and skipping and attacking things. It was hysterical. But then there was our 15 year old cat. She looked at those kittens with disgust. She was above all that energy. She just hissed and slowly moved from one spot on the floor to another for her 23 hour cat nap.
Cats run down. All living creatures wear out, grow weary, and become more and more tired. Eventually we lose the strength of youth and we no longer have the power or the energy to do what we once did. And it can get pretty depressing!
But God doesn’t run down like we do. He doesn’t get sick or sick and tired. He is from everlasting. He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is no less powerful and no less loving than He was when Adam and Eve walked in the Garden. The miracles of yesterday were down by the same God who lives today. God has not changed. God has not quit the job of being God.
Second, God is the creator.
He made it all. The sun, the stars, day, and night were all made by Him. He made Monday’s and Friday’s. He makes rainy days and days of incredible blue skies. He makes hurricanes and heat waves. The fact that He is the Creator means that He is above everything. There are no surprises, nothing that He can’t handle.
If I make a car; if I design it and put it together, and shape the parts – then certainly I should be able to fix it when it’s broke. I don’t need a manual. I don’t need someone to instruct me how to run the car. I made it.
I am reminded of the guy who did some engineering work for Henry Ford back in the early 1900’s. He designed one of Henry’s assembly lines for the Ford Motor Company. The line broke down and Henry brought in all kinds of experts to try and fix the problem. They tried for hours to determine what the problem was. None of these so-called experts could do anything with it. Finally out of desperation, Henry called in the designer of the assembly line. He came in, took a quick look at it, adjusted one knob, flipped a switch and in under a minute had the assembly line running again.
The designer then handed a very happy Henry Ford his bill. Henry was thrilled until he opened the envelope and saw that he was being billed $10,000. Henry stuttered and stammered. He said: “I’m very grateful that you got our line up and running again, but don’t you think this bill is outrageous for a problem you fixed in under a minute.” To which the designer took the bill, tore it up, and wrote a new bill and handed it to Ford. The new bill said: “For my time, $1, for knowing how to fix it $9,999”.
God is the creator. He knows what ails ya and he knows how to fix it! But all too often we ignore the Great Physician and try to heal ourselves. We turn our backs on the Creator and declare that we want to do it ourselves. And He is willing to let us try on our own, but He always waits for us, ready to respond when we turn to Him for help.
Third, God understands everything. Isaiah writes: “No one can measure the depth of His understanding.” God knows everything about anything. He understands us inside and out. He knows what makes us tick. He sees and perceives everything that is going on around us. He is not asleep when troubles come our way. He is not oblivious to the trials and difficulties we face. He knows when we grow weary and tired.
Why are these three principles so important to understand? (God is everlasting, God is Creator, and God understands everything!)
It is essential that we get a grasp on how great God is, because unless we do we will remain overwhelmed by the things in this world that wear us down. If my God is weak, and frail, and sleeps from time to time, and He doesn’t really know what I am up against, and He would like to help, but He is just too busy with many other things – then I am going to face this world as if I can never get over the hump!
How big is your God this morning? Do you have a little God that you keep in your pocket? Do you have a God you have fashioned after yourself – one who gets sick and tired, and who is basically a nice guy, but not very caring or effective? Is that that God you have come to worship this morning?
Isaiah reminds us: It is contrary to the nature of God for Him to grow weary
2. We grow weary when we forget God!
Life beats us up. Living in this sin-soaked world can get almost impossible at times. There are many things in this world that can make us weary, and lead us to want to throw in the towel. That is why God has designed us physically for rest, and refreshment and our bodies need proper nourishment. And likewise, our souls and our spirits need refreshment and rest.
The problem is not in the circumstances we all face. Let me say that again, so that we all hear it, including myself. The problem is not in the circumstances of life that we face.
The problem is that we face them alone. We neglect or forget or forsake God, not the God of our own making, but the true and Living God.
Why do we grow weary? (Look again at verses 27)
Isaiah 40:27
O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case?
First, We grow weary because we believe God is oblivious.
I don’t know how to say it in a more polite way. We view God either as some cosmic Santa Claus that visits us only once a year if we are not naughty but nice; or we view Him as some crotchity old grand-father who if we pester Him enough He’ll throw us a dog bone and say: quit pestering me kid, get out of here; or we view Him as some sweet old guy, who really hurts when we are hurting, and who just speaks platitudes like Bill Clinton’s “I feel your pain!”
Are you serving an oblivious God today? Do you think that He has forgotten and forsaken you? That is what the Israelites felt as they sat in captivity. Where is God? 70 years of this slavery. Why hasn’t he delivered us yet?
Was God oblivious to their situation? No! They were in captivity for a reason. Weariness starts to lift, when I can begin to say – “God, I don’t understand, but I trust you! I believe you are good, and loving, and that all you do is for my good. I may not like it Lord, but I am willing to wait for your deliverance.”
Second, We grow weary when we start to think that God operates in time and space.
Weariness creeps in when I watch the clock. When I start to demand that God do what I want Him to do, the way I want Him to, in the timeframe I have established. Then I grow weary. “I prayed for a month, and nothing happened, so I’m through with God!’ “I tried it once, and nothing changed, so I’m done trying.” When we forget that we don’t have the whole picture, that God sees everything and knows everything. That is when we grow weary.
Sculptor after sculptor looked at the large clump of marble and said: “Nothing can be done with it. Its shape is too odd, and its material is too fragile. If we begin to make something of it, it will shatter.” But in the Master’s eye, He could see what the stone could become, so he asked if he could have it. Quietly, privately for many months he worked on the stone. “What could he possibly do with such a large, ugly mass of rock? How can he make anything worthwhile out of this?” Ignoring the criticism, and the denials, the Master just kept chipping away, one piece at a time until finally the day of unveiling came. And on that day the greatest sculpture known to man was unveiled: Michaeleangelo’s Statue of David!
We can’t see what God is doing? We don’t understand the Master’s purposes, but He has an eye for these things – and He can take the tragic, and the frustrating, and the disappointing and make a Masterpiece out of your life – if you will learn to Rest in Him!
Third, weariness sets in when we think we can figure out life’s mysteries.
When we try to take the place of God and want to know everything. We are incapable of knowing everything. Trying to figure it all out and trying to get all our ducks lined up in a row, and trying to juggle all the marbles of life at the same time only produces weariness and a reminder that “We are not God!”
Are you weary today! Don’t look at your circumstances. We all have difficulties. Look instead at your heart today! Is God there? Or have you shut Him out? Is He in on the throne of your life? Are you acknowledging your need for Him? Are you crying out to Him day and night! If so – then hope is on the way!
3. Weary travelers who wait on God find spiritual renewal!
Look again at verses 29 to 31
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
He gives strength to the weary! Whose strength is it? It is His strength! It is God’s power, and God’s ability!
He renews their strength – that word “renews” literally means “to change – to make new” (he takes the tired, worn out, beat up person, and infuses them with new life, new energy – He changes the weary persons outlook on life – where before everything looked bleak and gray – now it looks sunny; where before everything looked dark and deadly – now the sun is shining and the birds are chirping. God gives rebirth to the weary. He makes you young again!
It would be as if my now dead cat came back to life and was able to skip and jump and run around the house like our little kittens did so many years ago.
They can now soar on eagles wings. This refers to a comment made in Exodus 19:4 about God’s deliverance of Israel from the slavery of the Egyptians.
’You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I brought you to myself and carried you on eagle’s wings.”
I remember one day hiking in the mountains of San Bernardino, California. I was exhausted and so I laid down on a big rock surrounded by tall Pine trees. As I laid down on this rock gazing up at the blue sky, through the trees, I could see a hawk or an eagle. It was too far away to tell, but this bird was soaring above everything. It had caught the updraft that occurs around mountains, and it was circling ever higher. I watched that bird for at least an hour. It never tired. It never grew weary. In fact I don’t remember it flapping its wings at all to stay afloat. All it did was catch the wind!
It let the wind carry it. It didn’t expend any energy at all. It could have flown forever just allowing the wind to carry it.
Brothers and sisters that is what we need. “A fresh wind of the Holy Spirit in our lives.” We need to let God. We need to catch the wind of the Lord again and let Him carry us up. We need to fall with hearts full of trust into the arms of Jesus Christ. It’s a little like that old ice tea commercial. Remember the picture – a scorching hot summer day, sweat pouring down the face of the person who has been trying to work in the terrible heat – then they drink a little Lipton Tea and the next thing they are falling backward into a pool of ice cool water!
Are you weary today? God can hold you up? He can carry you on His wings! But you have to let go. You can’t push Him aside and keep on flapping and say – I’ll handle it myself. You can’t say God I want your help, but I want to do it on my own terms.
What is the key?
They that Wait upon the Lord – They that HOPE in Him! (Without hope the people perish) (Without hope the heart grows sick) – Hoping in God is acknowledging that God loves you, and that God has a plan, a good and perfect plan for your life. It is saying – God I trust you to bring refreshment in your time! I will wait on you God!
Where are you today? Are you flapping your wings? Or are you resting in the breeze of God? Will you confess to Him today? Will you surrender control to Him today? Will you cast all your cares at His feet for He cares for you! Will you lay down your heavy yoke, and instead pick up His light and easy yoke? What will you do this day?
