Eagle

STRENGTH FOR THE WEARY

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EAGLE GOLDEN
Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard
that the everlasting God, Adonai,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not grow tired or weary?
His understanding cannot be fathomed.
He invigorates the exhausted,
He gives strength to the powerless.
Young men may grow tired and weary,
even the fittest may stumble and fall;
but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength,
they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings;
when they are running they won’t grow weary,
when they are walking they won’t get tired.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Complete Jewish Bible

Are you weary today? Are you tired of the “rat race” so to speak? Well, I am. I have to depend on the Lord to renew my strength daily. And you know what I’ve discovered? He usually doesn’t give it ahead of time. He doesn’t give me tomorrow’s strength today. He gives me today’s strength for today and tomorrow’s strength will be there when I need it.

We can spend our entire life anticipating the future and it won’t change it one bit. But if we spend our entire life trusting in God’s grace for the future, it changes everything! Rest follows very closely on the heels of trust. If you are truly trusting, you will abide in rest. There is no place for stress in the believing heart. Oh, you will have opportunity for it, but don’t let it get a foot in the door. When stress comes knocking…send a trusting heart to answer. For once you let stress get a foothold, you have to expend a lot of energy and more stress to get him out. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) Let’s learn to just head it off at the pass!

You may be thinking, “Well, God may get tired of me constantly depending on Him.” Are you kidding me?! Our Heavenly Father loves for us to be totally dependent on Him. He wants us to rest in His unending grace, the unmerited favor that Jesus purchased for us with such an awesome price…His own shed blood. And Our Father never gets tired or weary. He’s always there, waiting for His children to call on Him, day or night. But you know what is even better? We can just abide in His grace, knowing that moment by moment He is providing our every need. Knowing that, as an eagle, He will give us the strength…physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally to soar above the temptations, trials and stresses of this life. Hallelujah!!! Now make a decision that from this moment on, you’re going to abide in His grace, rest in His love…and trust Him to help you soar with the wings of an eagle!

THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS

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EAGLE
But 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.
Isaiah 40:31

As I was having my devotional this morning, for some reason the song entitled “Wind Beneath My Wings” came to mind and I started singing it. When I got to the line, “I can fly higher than an eagle…for you are the wind beneath my wings”, I started thinking about my relationship with the Lord and how it relates to that particular line.

I pictured myself first as a baby eagle learning to fly. Sometimes my tiny wings would tire as I struggled against the elements that surrounded me. I would start to panic as I felt my strength failing and my altitude decreasing. But right in the nick of time, despite my state of chaos and lack of confidence, I felt a strong presence underneath me, supporting me in my weakness, carrying me completely as I shifted the weight of my burdened breast onto the back of the mother eagle.

What an awesome picture of our Father God! He covers us with His feathers. (Psalm 91:4) He upholds us with His Righteous Right Hand! (Isaiah 43:10) Though we fall seven times, He will lift us up again! (Proverbs 24:16) Just like that mother eagle, He watches over us even when we are not cognizant of His presence.

Then we grow and mature and strive to become eagles in our own right…strong in the face of adversity, soaring above the storms of life, resting in the strength of His love. We don’t always soar, however. Sometimes we let the storms overtake us. Sometimes we allow the highwayman of our faith to rob us of our rest and waylay our hope. That is when we need the the blessed Holy Spirit to be the “wind beneath our wings.” Jesus knew we wouldn’t always be strong. He knew that we couldn’t make it alone. That’s why He said that The Father would send us a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.” (John 14:16,26 AMP)

Whether you are soaring today or whether you are still in the stages of learning to fly, the Holy Spirit is there to empower you. He will be the “wind beneath your wings.” You don’t have to struggle in your own strength, for sometimes it’s just not enough. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring a strong current of the Lord’s grace and lift you above the circumstances that are trying to make you earthbound. Relinquish the care to Him and you’ll find yourself unburdened and mounting up with wings like the eagle, strong and soaring!