Soaring like an Eagle

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 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. Isa 40:30-31  

From the Dust of Ennui

Satan has been pummeling me with one lie after another.

You can guess where he has been driving me at, as Charles Lloyd has intimated.  

 Of every state by thee assailed,

None are there, o'er which thou'st prevailed,

Like thine, Satiety!

Thence, Ennui , are the bloated slaves,

Thence, as the Vampires spring from graves,

All that vast train of minions waits on thee!

But God has been faithful. He has countered every lie with his word, and his word is truth. It's true. Satan comes for nothing but to steal and to kill. God offers rest. Satan, in his true counterfeit fashion offers ennui. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Joh 10:10). 

Ennui is that perfect rest, the rest which takes you under the earth, and not above it; the rest where you pull the blanket and cover yourself, and never want to wake up again.

But God giveth power to the faint. God increases their strength. God gives hope. Satan vanquishes hope. God points to the mountain top. Satan points to the bottom of the sea.

Satan the Accuser of the Brethren

Christ says he is the way, the truth and the life. Satan pokes holes in all of that. “Hast God really said?”  

Satan says yes you will feel strong now but in the morning it will go. In the morning you’ll wake up all wrapped in sorrow again.

But (he sidesteps this one) that is you if trust in your own strength. In your own strength even the youth shall faint. But take the LORD’s strength. Embrace it and own it.  

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? there is no searching of his understanding. 

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isa 40:28-29  

In the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness Christ fought every Satan’s wile with the word of God. We are called to do exactly as our Lord did.  “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Rom 10:11). 

So Christ says come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Learn of me. For I am meek. The meekness of God trusts fully in his word (Mat 11:28-30). 

Will you trust him? Will you answer his call? Will you come? Do you want to be free indeed?

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Joh 8:32  

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Joh 8:36 

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jer 33:3  

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jer 29:11  

Lay before him your burden. Lay upon him all your trouble. Show it to him. Be anxious for nothing. Be courageous. Fear not. He will help you.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Php 4:6  

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isa 41:10  

I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; 

And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? Isa 51:12-13  

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31  

God is still coming down. He's that meek. As his promise says, he will never leave us nor forsake us. He will be with us forever. God is still going to the uttermost to save.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Joh 14:16-18  

 Satan drives down. God lifts up. He is the living water. He is the bread of life. Glory to God in the highest! And on earth, peace.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isa 26:3  

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Php 4:7  

Hope is not ashamed. Believe it. Embrace it. Wrap yourself in it. Feel the weight of his glory. What shall separate us from that love?

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 2Co 4:8   

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2Co 12:7-9 

Christ comes to seek and to save. Satan comes to kill. Satan dotes on self. Me? Why? Myself?

Satan casts doubt. God casts hope. Ask David.

 

But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 

I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. Psa 22:9-10  

 Satan condemns. God encourages. Satan accuses. God reasons.

 

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isa 1:18  

Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Isa 41:21  

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Joh 6:37  

 God forgives and forgets. He starts a new thing. He gives a new song.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isa 61:1-3  

 We May Sing Again!

 Gird up thy loins. Lift up your hands. Proclaim his name who reigns above.

 

Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Isa 42:10  

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Isa 62:4-5  

I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. Son 5:1  

 A mother may forget her son. God never.

 

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 

Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 

Psa 139:7-11 

 

We May Dream Again!

 

The days went. The days have come. And shall we not say so?

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Isa 49:15-16  

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isa 43:19 

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Joe 2:28-29 

 

And may God grant our dreams wings to fly again!

Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. 

Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 

And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. Psa 90:15-17