Tag: Wings Like Eagles

4.p. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,

Job 4:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking? Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?

2 Corinthians 4:16    So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Hebrews 12:3     Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Psalms 73:26     My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Ephesians 3:16   that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

1 Peter 1:6    In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,

Isaiah 40:31    but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

I can’t imagine the physical and emotional pain Job was experiencing.  After 7 days sitting and waiting with Job, Eliphaz asks if it is ok to speak without Job being impatient.  We know these are some of Job’s best friends for all others who abandoned him in his troubles and these three friends came when they heard the news.  I am not sure I would want to hear “but now (these trials and troubles) come to you, and you are impatient.”  I am sure Eliphaz is meaning well but it seems a bit hard.

He tries to encourage Job with “Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?”  Eliphaz, is reminding Job that in his life he has always lived in reverence to God and obedience to Him.  This has been his confidence, strength, and hope.

It is easy to say “stand firm”, “do not grow weary or fainthearted”, “be strong”, and “rejoice” to others when affliction, trials, and troubles come their way.  It is another thing to be in physical and emotional trials and actually find the ability to do it.  I do know that it has to come from within us by and through the Holy Spirit of God.  When every nerve in our body is shouting out with pain and our brain is consumed with it, it is in these times our faith and trust in Jesus Christ will direct, strengthen, and give some level of peace. Our moments of relief come when we surrender to the sovereignty of Jesus.  Our strength comes when we have no power to handle or manage these trials.  Our hope comes with reliance on Him to carry us through.  It may not seem like it while in the depths of trials, but on the other side, we see more clearly and understand deep within our mind that we did not come through this on our own.  In fact, we were powerless to handle it and yet there was a power given to us.  This power and strength come from Jesus Christ.  It is in and through Him we are able to make it to the next hour with hope, the next day with security, the next week with confidence.

Content in all things

“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint”

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”

Psalms 68:28   Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

Psalms 68:32  O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

Psalms 42:8     By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalms 71:3   Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Psalms 138:8   The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Being content in the hands of God is both hard and easy.  It depends on our choice to have faith in Him, to wait on Him, to trust in Him, and to believe in Him and His purpose for our lives.  We must believe He is sovereign and in control of all there is.  And then patiently wait for His mighty and awesome timing.  Sometimes it is immediate and other times it is not.  In our culture our access is almost unlimited to anything we are seeking.  I wonder if this doesn’t play a part in our lack of seeking God and His purpose.  When problems arise we run ahead on our own without giving second thought to Him. Other times we are so blessed we even forget that these blessings come from Him.  I recently heard a man tell of great success he was having in training dogs.  He said at one point he just thought it was too easy.  Then God showed him it was not easy and gave him a time of trials in this training.   He said he was humbled by God and knows all success is at the hands of God.  If we listen, God will speak to our heart and lead us on paths where we continually see His sovereignty.  Commit to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

how long must I wait

” but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Psalms 27:13  I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Psalms 42:5   Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Psalms 56:3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

2 Corinthians 4:13  Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,  knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

Psalms 130:5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Isaiah 8:17  I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Romans 8:25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Lamentations 3:26   It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

1 Corinthians 16:13   Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Psalms 31:24  Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

Isaiah 40:31  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Waiting for God is not easy when our culture seems to have instant access, instant supply, instant satisfaction.  Faith trusts in God, relies on God, clings to God, and waits for God’s timing, plan, and purpose.  What part of trusting God puts time limits on His steadfast love?  What part of relying on God puts time limits on His perfect plan for our lives? What part of clinging to Him sets time limits on when God responds?  What part of waiting in faith puts time limits on when God will act?  Abraham was promised he would be the father of many nations when he was 75 years old and did not see this fulfilled for 25 years.  Would we wait 25 years?  Abraham was then asked to sacrifice his first born.  Though he did not do it because god stopped him, his faith was never wavering in trusting God, clinging to God, relying on God.  We do well to wait and trust.  God is our hope, strength and peace.

Place of Rest

walk in it, and find rest for your souls.

Joshua
‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.

isaiah 11:10
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’
I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet! ’
But they said, ‘We will not pay attention. ’
Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.

Isaiah 40:28
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

I see this happening over and over again.  In times of trials and heavy burdens people turn to God for peace and rest.  They come to a place where “doing it on their own” is not working out and the desire/seek God’s hand in their life.  Why is it that we “run” to God when we are finally broken but in times of little to no trials or burdens we seem to not see the need for God?  Could it be that our walk with Him is superficial?  What does it say about a life that only seeks God when times are rough?  What would you think about a son or daughter who only spoke to their earthly father when they needed something or were in trouble?  They never went to see their father any other time.  They never invited him to any part of their life.  Only when they were in need did they contact him.  I am confident you get the point – God, our heavenly Father, wants our heart desire to be for Him, to serve Him, to seek what His purpose is for us each day.  To stay in His word we find words of direction, hope, peace, rest…. To stay in His presence is peace and rest.  Learn to live in His presence every moment.