They Will Soar on Wings like Eagles

High above the hills, a great bird spreads its wings. It doesn't flap. It doesn't struggle. It just rises, higher and higher, carried by the warm air. And far below, a tired man watches it and wishes he could feel like that.

Jerusalem has fallen. The temple is in ruins. Many of God's people have been carried off to Babylon, hundreds of miles from home. Years go by. Children grow up who have never seen Jerusalem. Babylon's temples are huge, its gods are everywhere, and its armies seem unbeatable. And many of the exiles start to think: maybe God has forgotten us. Maybe he doesn't see us any more. The book of Isaiah, from chapter forty onwards, speaks right into those days. It begins with these words: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” And near the end of that chapter comes a message for people who are simply worn out.

First, God repeats back what the people have been saying. “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?” Why do you keep saying, God can't see what's happening to me. He doesn't care about my case. Have you ever felt like that? Like you have been praying and nothing changes, and maybe God has stopped listening? God doesn't scold them for feeling this way. He answers them. Just before this, he has told them to look up at the night sky. Lift up your eyes. Who created all these stars? He brings them out like an army, and calls every one by name. Not one is missing. If he knows every star, he knows you.

“Hast 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?” Haven't you heard? God doesn't get tired. He never runs out of energy, never needs a break, never gives up. And no one can measure how deep his understanding goes. But here's the wonderful part. He doesn't keep his strength to himself. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Then Isaiah says something every athlete knows. Even young people get tired and weary. Even the strongest young men stumble and fall.

And then comes the promise. “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.” To wait on the Lord doesn't mean sitting around doing nothing. It means trusting him, hoping in him, looking to him for help. And notice the three steps. Soaring is for the high moments. Running is for the busy, demanding days. And walking, just putting one foot in front of the other, is for the long, slow, ordinary stretches. God promises strength for all three. For the exiles in Babylon, this was a promise that the long wait would not crush them. And in time, God did bring them home.

The Hebrew word translated eagle here is nesher. It was used for large birds of prey, and many experts think it often meant the griffon vulture, a huge bird still found in Israel today. Griffon vultures have wingspans of well over two metres. They hardly flap at all. Instead they ride rising columns of warm air, called thermals, circling higher and higher with almost no effort. That's a perfect picture of strength that comes from something beyond yourself.

You'll find this promise in Isaiah chapter forty, verses twenty-seven to thirty-one. A message for tired people who think God has forgotten them. So here is a question to carry with you. When you feel tired or forgotten, what would it look like to wait on the Lord?