There is a verse in Isaiah 40 that is
well–known and cherished, but little understood. I refer to verse
31: “but they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew [their] strength:
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not
tire; they shall walk, and not faint.” Let us confess at once that
these blessings are not usual in the lives of Christians. As a
matter of fact we run and
are weary, we walk
and
do faint—and the
wings of our souls
do not habitually
beat the air of heaven. On the face of it, it is very simple: there
is a condition entirely within the reach of every Christian,
whatever may be his or her age or environment, that makes the
resultant blessings sure. If the condition is met, then the
blessings will flow. The reverse is also true, and thus the absence
of the blessings proves that we do not meet the condition. That
condition is
waiting on the Lord.
Perhaps we have never stopped to read the verse
very carefully. We like certain promises of Scripture largely
because we feel there is something beautiful, majestic and
triumphant in them, but we do not really consider what they mean.
What then is the meaning of ‘waiting on the Lord’? Everything hinges
on it, for it is the sole condition in order to receive the
blessings. First of all, waiting upon God is not praying. Praying is
petitioning God for something. It has its own unique and important
place in the Christian life, but it is not waiting upon the Lord.
Waiting upon the Lord implies both dependence and expectation—but it
does not imply speaking. To wait upon the Lord is to look to the
Lord for everything, and that being so, the soul is at peace. It is
not the waiting of an idler, nor the waiting of a dreamer, but the
waiting of faith—girded for instant, unquestioning obedience when
the time to act or speak comes. It is trusting, it is hoping and it
is resting in the Lord. He is looked to for everything, and nothing
is expected from anywhere or anybody else.
The four blessings of the text must follow if
the one condition is met because God says they shall: “they that
wait upon Jehovah
shall renew [their] strength:
they
shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they
shall run, and not tire;
they
shall walk, and not faint”
(my emphasis). Let us take each in turn.
“They that wait upon Jehovah shall renew
[their] strength”. The word
renew rendered literally is
change—they shall change
their strength. It is a word used to denote a change of garments.
Thus they that wait upon the Lord shall lay aside their strength and
put on, as a garment, strength from God. Indeed, the whole of Isaiah
40 is a series of contrasts between the frailty and feebleness of
man, and the strength and greatness of God. Man has some strength in
the realm of the natural, but it is a strength that utterly breaks
down in the spiritual sphere. The problem is to rid ourselves of
self–strength in order that God may clothe us with His own strength;
and this is the first blessing promised to those who “wait upon
Jehovah”. How does God effect this? I do not know, but I do know
that when we are waiting upon Him, our natural strength, which after
all is only weakness, is laid aside, and divine hands clothe us with
the strength of God.
“They shall mount up with wings as eagles”.
What does that mean? Why as eagles? Why not with wings as doves? I
think it is because of the fact that the eagle flies so high, and is
often lost to sight in the heavens. He is, as it were, up there in
the presence of God. And then the eagle is also immensely strong—the
avian symbol of power. The two things go together—being alone with
God, and having power with God. Lot dwells in Sodom and torments his
righteous soul with the lawless works of the godless (see 2 Pet. 2:
8) but he has no power (see Gen. 19: 14). Power resides with Abraham
in the hill–country of Hebron (see Gen. 13: 18; 18: 16–33). Thus “If
therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things
[which are] above”. How far above should we go? “Where the Christ
is, sitting at [the] right hand of God” (Col. 3: 1). It is, we might
say, an environment suited to the man of God. Of course, as with the
eagle, it may be a lonely path, and we shall no doubt be
misunderstood by those taken up with the affairs of this world, but
the reward, both now and in the future, is immense.
But that is not all: “they shall run, and not
tire; they shall walk, and not faint” (Is. 40: 31). What! Must we
come down and run and walk here on this mundane earth after these
eagle flights? Yes, precisely—for we go up there that we may serve
down here. We can never serve here according to God’s thoughts of
service until we have risen on eagle’s wings into His presence. It
is only the man or woman who has been with God who can touch human
lives with divine power. Yes, we must run down here, and walk down
here, but only in the degree in which we have breathed the upper air
can we either run without tiring, or walk without fainting. What is
the “walk” then? It is the everyday life. It is the getting
breakfast, dressing the children, and getting them off to school. It
is going down and opening the shop, or going to the factory or
office. Some think it must be preaching or pastoring or missionary
work—and it may include such things—but to confine it to them is a
mistake. It is really just our daily lives here as God directs them
to be. Under the wear and petty vexations and frictions of everyday
life, in heat and cold, in dull days and bright days, the Christian
that has
waited upon God shall
run, and not tire, shall walk, and not faint. May it be so!
