“… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Pastor Rex preached his second sermon in a series of pain — entitled When the Pain Persists — early in the month of March. He used Isaiah 40:31 in a manor which put a new meaning on the verse for me. Originally I believe the wording of this verse wasn’t unlike the way Jesus would form examples in His lessons — that is, I believe it was stating the same basic moral principal, just in three different variations in an attempt to “drive the point home”. Like when Jesus taught, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) This verse essentially illustrates the same behavior of request and response but in three separate instances. It was stated once and reiterated twice. I had always believed the verse in Isaiah to be of the same type of word play.
This might been seen as “splitting hairs”; but I believe the wording of Isaiah 40:31 is not intended to be the same principle delivered three times, but rather to communicate the message that for any given circumstance, the appropriate strength will be allotted.
Dr Claypool, as quoted by Pastor Rex, delivered the following closing statement to his first sermon back to the pulpit after losing his young daughter to leukemia. This one paragraph is one of the most profound things I’ve ever read:
“You know sometimes we’re so happy it’s like we could mount up with wings like an eagle and fly. And then sometimes God gives us the strength to do the routine — we can just run and run and we don’t grow weary. Then, other times in life, it’s all we can do to hold on — and we walk without fainting. You know church, now that my daughter has died I would like to tell you church that I’m mounting up with wings like an eagle today and flying because I know she’s in heaven; but you know, that’s not the truth. The truth is — it’s all I can do today to walk and not faint. I need your prayers. But I know one day, there is going to come a day, where I’ll mount up with wings like an eagle and fly again. And I say today, to those that are suffering, that will true for you again too. One day, you will soar again.”
