Eagle's Rest

Eagle’s RestYet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. [Is 30:31] To say that life is busy is an understatement. People work longer hours, with more technology than ever but we seem to have less time at our disposal. When was the last time you woke up with nothing on your calendar for the day? I bet is has been awhile for many of you.  Add to that our families and their varied activities. Kids are not only involved in sports today, often they are involved in multiple sports in multiple leagues at the same time. Dinner is often eaten in the car on the way to a game or practice. Life becomes a series of coordinating who is playing what sport on what night in what town. Sit down dinners at home are almost extinct.  You could add all the activities from church, school, and communities to those and soon you would be exhausted from simply reading your own to do list, not to mention putting forth the effort to attend every meeting, take care of each responsibility that has been entrusted to you, and trying to work hard to earn a little extra money to get ahead.  Most of time can you guess what suffers the most? It is our souls. Our souls become hurried, rushed, drained, depleted, and dried up. When this happens we are of little use to God or to the people He puts in our paths. How many today reading this would be honest and confess, my soul is empty, withered, and weary? I don’t why we allow it to happen but when we get busy, busier than God intended, why are we tempted to eliminate our times of waiting for the Lord in solitude and silence? One of the meanings of the word “wait” in [Is 40:31] is to linger. I love that. Instead of lingering with the Lord we convince ourselves we can do life without Him or with less time with Him and we end up crashing and burning under the stresses of life emotionally, physically, and at times even morally as we just want to find some relief from all the pressure and seek it in the wrong places. If we would stop and refocus by lingering with the Lord we would benefit in at least three ways. First we would gain new strength. Notice Isaiah says we would gain new strength not old strength. I know many driven people who can will themselves to past fatigue to get up and battle through another day. They push through exhaustion day after day physically but sooner or later it catches up. Old strength can wear out. Old strength fades as we get older and as our bodies begin break down. Immune systems fail, heart disease can develop, anxieties increase, and instead of finding new strength we only find weakness and frailty. There are days when all of our old strength is depleted and there is nothing left. The word strength can mean “hardiness, vigor, or force.” Does God have the ability renew our vigor from day to day if we linger with Him? Absolutely. Not only can He do that but He can make our days more efficient as we lay them before Him. He can continually supply us with new hardiness and vigor for the battles of each day. He can enable us to accomplish more and be more productive with Him as we linger daily than we could be in a week of living life in our own power. He has the ability to renew our creative strength and we solve problems both at home and at work. He can bless us with the renewed strength to weather the emotional, financial, and other storms that can suddenly blow into our lives helping us to stand steadfast. A second benefit of waiting on the Lord is our being able to mount up on the wings of eagles. What does that mean? We know eagles are birds who love solitude. We also know eagles soar. In my own life I have experienced time and time again over more than two decades that my times of lingering with the Lord privately have helped me to soar over extremely difficult and trying times. God has lifted me above the physical realm and taken me into spiritual realm to give me His perspective on my problems and trials. Spiritually soaring has helped me to take the long view of life and ministry and to realize that things that seem like such a big deal today will soon be forgotten in the shadows of tomorrow. I need God’s point of view continually pounded into my soul so I do not lose heart and want to quit. If we could stop long enough and linger with Him until He helps us soar above our problems and our pains, we might not lose hope and give in to despair. Why is it so hard for us to slow down in order for Him to let us mount up on the wings of eagles? We do not understand what we are forsaking during these times. Spending time lingering with the Lord should not be a duty but a delight. We have been blinded to the benefits and deceived into the bondage of stress, sickness, burdens, depression, and despair. God wants to deliver us from all of that and grant us victory and freedom like an eagle soaring through the breeze.  A third advantage we will gain as we wait on the Lord is spiritual endurance. There are times in life that it seems we have to run. Life is busy, the demands are great, and pace of life is fast. During these times if we will make waiting on the Lord a priority He will helps us run and not get tired. He will develop the endurance and stamina needed not only to run but keep running until we finish.  Just like it takes training for a runner to develop endurance it also takes spiritual training to run the race of life and not get tired and quit when the going gets tough. Spiritual tenacity can be developed as we patiently tarry with the Lord day in and day out.  There are also seasons of life when the pace slows to a leisurely walk and do not become weary. I have just come out of the season of running and am enjoying a few days of walking. I am ironically enjoying a prayer retreat at a place called Eagle’s Rest Retreat. It is one of the most special spots on the whole planet for me. During my time here I am enjoying a leisure strolls with the Lord. I have filled my time with reading, praying, meditating, and writing. I stayed up late last night reading and slept in late before I enjoyed my time of waiting on the Lord. Moment by moment and hour by hour I am being renewed, rejuvenated, reinvigorated, and revived for the ministry God has entrusted to me. I know when I return home it will be time to run again but I can run when God is equipping and enabling me to do the work. I can keep up the pace He has set for my life because we have put in the training as I have waited on Him day after day.  I’ve already had a peak at what awaits me when I get back. Meetings. Mission projects. Preaching. Teaching. A Mission Trip. More writing. Family. Expansion projects. Most importantly of all, more mornings of waiting on the Lord and lingering with the Lord.