Mounting Up

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

My family makes fun of me in church because every song that the band plays I claim it as my favorite. So in that spirit, might I say that this verse is one of my most well loved verses. The eagle is such a powerful bird demonstrating beauty, position, power and strength. The picture this so beautifully illustrates is the dependency on God for what we need when we need it. Approaching our difficult seasons places us in seasons of captivity wherein we must wait for the Lord to bring us through these times.

‘Renew their strength…’ The Hebrew word renew commonly refers to change, revive, renewal causing something to flourish again, as, e. g., a tree that has decayed and fallen down. This renewal refers to something that has been depleted but through our wait on the Lord is being replenished. It means that the people of God who trust in Him shall become strong in faith, being able to contend with their challenges gaining victory over the trials of life. God gives them strength if they seek him.

‘Mount up wings…’ The eagle prepares to take flight through mounting up. The eagle is aware of his need to prepare for flight instead of flapping about aimlessly. When we wait for God to move us from one spot to another we are to be still and prepare for His activity in our lives. God is always working and moving around us initiating involvement on our part when He deems it is the proper time. We must live a life of expectancy for His invitation to join Him and preparation for the call. We must ‘mount up’ so that when He calls we are ready to take flight for Him.

‘Run and not be weary…’ This phrase is another mode of expressing the same idea – if we will trust in God we will be vigorous, elevated, and unwearied. He will sustain and uphold us, and in his service we will never be too weak.

‘Walk, and not faint…’ Through walking in the ways of God we can experience a life of balance and peace apart from our seasons of adversity. We will not run in chaos from here to there but rather trust in Him during our faith walk. In Him, we shall neither sink under our burdens, nor give out because of our burdens.

Our Christian walk should show spiritual commitment and contentment whether our circumstances have us waiting on the ground or soaring high above.