Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet 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. (Isaiah 40:30-31).

Did you ever notice how a young child will run, jump, and play all day long–seemingly with an endless amount of energy?  They may fall asleep in their soup at supper or while watching TV, but while at play, they never say,  “Time out, guys, I need to take a nap”

Then they turn into teenagers and you can’t get them to do anything.  They’ll sleep until it’s lunch time and then drag around all day like they’re exhausted.  I remember not too many years back when one of my nephews had gotten a job at our church that involved a shovel and some dirt.  I volunteered to work alongside him.  After a couple of hours of physical labor, he was wiped out and I was just warming up.  Sometimes fatigue is just a state of mind.

The quote, “they will soar high on wings like eagles,” is more than a poetic way of describing something.  Eagles have the ability to spread their wings and tail-feathers so that they can stay perfectly still and in position to catch thermal updrafts.  Two scientists, Jon M. Gerrard and Gary R. Bortolotti, wrote, “Eagles are capable of sustaining flapping flight, but they usually spend little time doing it.”  While observing a particular female eagle, they noted that she averaged less that 2 minutes per hour in flapping their wings.  So most of their soaring is effortless.

When God lifts us above our various circumstances, we can soar above them effortlessly because he is our thermal updraft.  There will be times when we have to “flap” like crazy to get back to God’s thermal, but the less time it takes, the more and higher we can soar.

Around 30 years ago, when I was at the height of my teaching and coaching career, I felt unstoppable.  I had run a couple of marathons and I was in the best shape I ever would be.  In fact, I was at the “they will run and not grow weary” stage.  Once I started running, I felt I could go on forever.  But that was all physical.  The race I now run is to follow the Will of God.  At times I may allow myself to grow weary, but then I remember to “wait on the Lord.”  That’s when he allows me to soar and to run and not grow weary.  And, as I grow older, “to walk and not faint.”