Dear Amy,
What is the second reason for the absence of soaring some may be experiencing?
But they who wait for 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 40:31
It is this: in order to soar we must first wait for the Lord. Note this though, it is not soaring despite the waiting. It is soaring because of the waiting. But there’s waiting and there’s waiting for the Lord and the two couldn’t be more different. The key is to understand what it means to wait for the Lord.
Let’s consider what the psalmist has to say.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
― Psalm 130:5-8
The one who is waiting does not already have the thing waited for. This is the essence of what Isaiah is saying which is such a complete mystery to those who haven’t understood it. The soaring is not in the having. It is in the not having! There is such longing in this psalm⸺can you hear it?⸺and surely that is painful. But in the waiting, essentially because of the waiting, there is hope and there is expectation. In his word I hope.
The Lord is the source of all hope for the one who would soar. With the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. These are absolute certainties. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Did you notice the messianic prophecy in that last verse? Praise him!
Just to be clear, the soaring is not dependent on blessing, by which I mean blessed circumstances and pleasant outcomes. For sure it is absolutely dependent on grace, but that is a completely different thing! Notice how our psalm begins.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
― Psalm 130:1
And this is where soaring begins. It is out of the depths, out of self loss and complete dependence on the Lord himself. How upside-down are the things of the Kingdom! Jesus explained this over and over, and still some are utterly unable to understand.
Even knowing these things, though, there remains one last thing that may shackle us firmly to the ground and prevent soaring. That one last thing is a deep sense of unease in not understanding what may be happening, which can be both bewildering and earth-shackling. The shackle is in that most pernicious and faith-destroying question: why? Why, O Lord? Because that is a question that can be so full of doubt.
How can we deal with this? Isn’t it in our very nature to ask this question? Notice again what Isaiah says of the Lord.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
― Isaiah 40:28
Specifically this: his understanding is unsearchable. Only by surrendering to his infinite and unsearchable wisdom, his kindness, and his steadfast love, may we be released from those shackles. This is a surrender entirely based on trusting in the one who loves and protects and restores and redeems. It is a surrender that confesses no need to understand but simply trusts in the one who does.
And then we really will soar like eagles, oh how we will! It is by waiting on the Lord with such hope and expectation and trust grounded on his steadfast love and plentiful redemption and unsearchable understanding. It is hope and expectation that fills hearts almost to bursting with anticipation. And so we soar.
Wait for the Lord, Amy, with all your hope in him, and soar on wings like an eagle! 🙏