Weary or Soaring?

Weary is such a sad word. It is so much heavier than, say, tired. There is a sense of discouragement about weariness which, to me, doesn’t pertain to tiredness.

A new year. 2016. It is a year of hope, of promise. I am making Isaiah 40 my text for the year and my aim is to read it frequently and glean as much as I can from its encouraging words. 

This morning I read it. It opens on a gentle note. Comfort my people. It ends on an encouraging note. Those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, rising up like eagles, running without growing weary. 

That led me to Matthew 11:19. Jesus invites us to come to him, all who are weary and burdened. 

Do you fit that category? I have had a very busy, sometimes stressful, always demanding 6 weeks. They followed on from a year punctuated by a couple of trips to help my mother, both of which were demanding and often stressful. I am tired for sure, but I am not weary because I have seen the truth of that verse from Isaiah. I have put my hope in the Lord, especially during these last six weeks, and I have known his strength flowing through me. I have seen his blessings open up before my eyes. He has been doing more than I could have asked or imagined.

He enabled us to sort and clear my mother’s home of 63 years, in two weeks. He enabled us to repaint most of the interior of the house – three bedrooms, a long hallway, bathroom, living/dining area. He helped us get the carpets lifted to reveal the beautiful hardwood floors. He gave us strength to hold a garage sale. He brought the right buyer for Mom’s piano. We managed to dispose of the rest through a charity pick-up.

Through my cousin, he provided a realtor we liked, and who has found a potential buyer. Mom and I were able to pray through the house, the home we loved for 63 years, in which I grew up, played, where our wedding reception took place and where my father died. We asked God that another family would come in and sense his peace and be enabled to live and love and laugh in that home as we did. We asked that the home would bless the next family.

The potential buyer is buying it for his newly married daughter and husband. I am sure there will be a family in there, enjoying that home as we did.

I am tired. But I am not weary, as long as I keep coming to Jesus, putting my hope in him and receiving from him strength for each new moment, for each new day. 

This year, 2016, is the year of the eagle. A year of reaching new heights, carried up by the thermals provided by the Lord, in whom is all my hope and trust. 

Happy new year. And a heartfelt thank you to those whose prayers have fuelled those thermals these last weeks. God bless you.

Soaring

I'm thinking a lot about eagles today. I don't think I've ever seen one of these majestic birds, except perhaps at a wild animal park somewhere.

I've been thinking about how they soar above the storm clouds to avoid being pummelled by the rain. Soar. I love that word. It conveys power, height, and a certain effortlessness. Riding the thermals. Rising on the waves of air. It communicates a certain exuberance, a joy in rising above the storms and  maybe even basking in the sunlight which shines beyond the clouds. An affinity with being somewhere over the rainbow.

Eagles have several traits which lend themselves as metaphors for a healthy relationship with God. But today, this is my focus. I am still set aside, hunkered down by a roaring fire and sneezing and coughing and sniffing. It's amazing that it has taken over two weeks of ill health for me to finally give in, to finally stop trying to get on with my to do list. Why? What is wrong with me?

Today I read in the book of Isaiah, chapter 40, those famous words...those who wait on, who trust in, The Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.

I may look like I am slumped by a roaring fire. But in fact, I am soaring on wings like eagles, as I wait on The Lord.