SOARING

Remember the catchy 90's tune, "I believe I can fly"? I always thought flying would be an awesome superhero trait to have! I envy the freedom that birds have while flying high above us. So what can we really learn from watching a bird fly? Is there more than one way to fly?

Let's find out...

 

A lot of things come to me while I'm driving in my car. The LORD and I have a lot of little talks there too. Lately, while I've been driving down the road, I have seen a lot of birds soaring in the air. Well you might say that's not so unusual--I see birds everyday!....BUT, I realized something as I watched these creatures in their natural element.

No matter how many times I've seen a bird fly through the air, I've never thought about them in this respect. The Bible says (as we are all familiar with) that, "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. [Isaiah 40:31]"

Now let me digress for just a moment and break down that verse. "they shall mount up with wings as eagles": Another interpretation of this verse says "they will soar on wings like eagles..." I found multiple definitions of the word "soar"

• To rise, fly, or glide high and with little apparent effort. 
• To climb swiftly or powerfully.
• To glide in an aircraft while maintaining altitude.
• To ascend suddenly above the normal or usual level

So okay, now let me put this verse into perspective and then apply it to my "a- ha" moment earlier this week.

In my interpretation, The Bible tells us that if we wait ("to remain or rest in expectation") on the LORD that our strength will be renewed, we will mount up [soar: rise, fly or glide high with little apparent effort...], on wings like eagles(who by def: "have relatively long and more evenly broad wings, & a more direct, faster flight")-we shall run and not be tired and we can run and not faint.


So this brings me back to the birds that I mentioned earlier. As I began to watch these birds throughout the week I began to realize that they were not flying-- they were soaring. There is a difference! I think that sometimes in life we go around flying here flying there, we are constantly flapping our wings trying to get somewhere. Now these birds are pretty smart, because they have figured out how to get where they are going based on soaring.
[--Soaring is a mode of flight in which height is gained by using air that is moving upwards. ]

So I got to thinking. If God designed these birds to soar through the air with little effort by using the air that is moving upward...then maybe this is what He means in Isaiah about us "mounting up like wings on eagles...". Perhaps if we listen to His guidance and let the Holy Spirit guide us, then we too can [rest] and let God bring us upward with the wind so that we can soar and "ascend above the normal level".


God doesn't want us to do it all ourselves. He is saying depend on me-- REST in me, I will be the "wind beneath your wings" (sorry for the cliche). But in reality, it is true. So if a bird can be FREE and soar through the sky, then why can't I have that same freedom? I can and you can too!


So when you feel like you are exhausted mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, & every way possible...just remember that God is calling you to a place of rest. And in that rest He will take you upward like the eagles, where you can soar above your circumstances. He will cause you to get where you are going quicker than if you tried on your own. Just watch a bird next time--look at the ease with which they soar through the air versus when they are just flapping their wings.


Be Encouraged, Be Blessed & Keep Soaring!




Originally written on September, 2008