Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

Who of us does not need strength for the day, the hour, the minute?  We have natural and cultural strength – like others – but all that is of little help when we meet, as we surely will, the challenges in the realm of the spirit, like what to do when things fall apart or when a relationship goes sour and we stand helpless.  Or when we think of the eternal welfare of our precious souls.

For most, life is hum-drum, meaningless and stale. Our culture offers some outlets for our frustrations, but at best, only temporarily.  Those in whom the Spirit of the Lord Jesus lives as the result of the new birth have a hidden but profound strength that pushes on in hope in spite of odds that are meant to deter us.

Isaiah sees this clearly. He knows that spiritual strength comes from hoping in the Lord and not in any other person or thing. We must hope in the Lord!  If we hope in ourselves or others we are in big trouble. We must hang everything on the Lord!

That compelling hope, a gift of the Lord, that rises within us will help us to meet the challenges of life, often by simply flying high above the difficulties.  For a while we see things clearly from the perspective from on high, like eagles. We need those special moments when we are privileged to see God at work over time and space.  Yesterday I saw a bald eagle and was reminded of this passage of Scripture.  That eagle would surely die if it could not rise above it all and spot a meal from far off.

Fine, I say, but those uplifts that the eagle experience do not last. No problem, according to the Word, we are made to run as well as fly. Running is down to earth, just hurrying through difficult things. We can run for a while, but it is exhausting.

So we find ourselves meeting life in the most ordinary way, walking through the difficulty!  Walking is not all that exhilarating but it is the normal way we move forward, and is something we do all the time.

I am impressed with the way the Lord energizes us for all of life’s challenges. Sometimes it is by soaring to great heights, sometimes by running with all our mights, but most often by taking one step at a time, nothing exhilarating just determination that the Spirit of the Lord implants within us.

So we fly, we run, we walk. All are good and all are necessary.