Eagle's Wings
Last week, I meditated on how the serious state of weariness affects our lives. Sadly, many of us were burnt out a thousand miles back, but we’re still going, just as the proverb suggests. We simply can’t jettison the shape and speed of life that generates our mental fatigue. We can find ourselves in physical situations that brings us to the point of exhaustion, and we are powerless to control the hope of change. What are we going to do when there are no options off the treadmill? How will we meet our necessary schedules and get it all done without life killing us softly? How will we reconcile these demands into a more salubrious pace? It’s one thing to finally recognize and admit that you are exhausted – and quite another to know the practical steps towards rescue.
Recently, I faced a conundrum like this. In what I felt was terrible timing, the Lord clearly directed me to begin leading another women’s Bible study. Not only was it another study, it was a brand-new series, with all the uncertainty of a maiden-voyage. It would necessitate a lot of moment-by-moment tweaking and adjustments on the fly, which is far more labor intensive than something you’ve done before. I wasn’t exactly turning cartwheels at the news. Inwardly, I groaned a little. All this came hot the heels of an exacting season of launching my website and taking on the unknown venture of blogging. My mind was still buzzing like a kicked-over hornets’ nest as I tried to release all the decisions and details I had just finished. Birthing out new projects takes an unbelievable amount of mental and prophetic concentration. You can even suffer spiritual post-partum depression after completion, as your energy crashes. It’s a season to be circumspect and careful, not recklessly crash around. Realistically, as far as the energy level I possessed was concerned, I was done. I simply longed to change gears, clear the mental decks and hit pause for an unspecified duration. I was not feeling adventurous!
It’s not smart to start anything at zero motivation, especially coupled with absurd timing. Beginning in June is the optimal strategy for maximizing summer freedom, and here we were, in August. Yet, contrarily, I was utterly certain the Lord was in it. I was not acting out of my own desire, which strangely enough, generated confidence. Fortunately, I’ve had history with this kind of terrain. It’s the place where every rational, practical consideration utterly conflicts with the anointing, and I’ve learned from hard experience which one to go with. Some of the most enduring spiritual productivity has been accomplished when my tank was thoroughly depleted. I’ve since launched forward in faith, and my sisters and I are enjoying a profound season together.
Learning how to tap into God’s assets, when you have absolutely nothing left, is one of a believer’s most life-transforming lessons. The burden and plague of stress is broken forever. When you are weary, when you are empty, it’s a magnificent, unprecedented moment for the Lord to utterly overshadow you and endow you with strength. The slip-stream of the supernatural is upon you, and you chose to step into it. When you are weak, then He is strong. This is not a trite religious formula. It’s not just talk. There is solid spiritual substance to be accessed by faith…but you will have to want it badly enough to let go of your own agenda. It’s spiritual reality, but you have to let it be your reality. It’s one day, one task at a time, steeped in an awareness of His presence. Take your hands off the wheel, 'cause the Captain of your soul is in control.
Sometimes, weariness forces us into the truth. After closely monitoring the situation, and the Lord lets us come to the end of ourselves, where we are desperate enough to do things His way. Although it feels wrong to our egos, ambition and self-image, this is actually the ‘holy ground’ we need, so take your shoes off. This is the moment of destiny…the place you’ve been training for. Let go of your expectations, even your hopes, and your death-grip on control, to wait for the distinct leading of the Spirit. By your passive obedience, your quiet receptivity, you will step into an entirely new level of authority and resource. It will be unmarred by bias, desire or willfulness. The serene, yet forceful updrafts of the Holy Spirit will take you places you’ve never seen. That’s why they call it eagle’s wings!
Let’s read this familiar passage one more time.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on 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. Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV
Have you noticed? The Lord’s timing is not our timing. He likes to wait for the supreme mellowness of fruit nearly falling off the vine. He rejoices in maximum ripeness and succulent maturity. He waits until seasons are utterly consummated, and the turning point is come. That’s His idea of vintage. From our vantage point, it usually shows up as ‘weary’.
“One can go a long way, when one is tired”. This proverb may be true, but there’s a better way. If you are tapped into divine stockpiles, the measure of your own strength means nothing. It’s never going to be enough anyway, so the quicker you find your ‘eagle’s wings’, the better.