Week 17 - #Prepare - "Soar"
“But they that wait…Soar!"
Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Exodus 19:4 - You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
Galatians 6:9 - And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Why do we sometimes delay our dreams and allow ourselves to become discouraged, while knowing all along God has a plan for us to soar?
What hinders our ability to soar as we find ourselves grounded and still in the hanger?
I think there are so many reasons why we get derailed and distracted along the way. But I think the number one reason we find ourselves forgoing the mission is we quit!
Now I'm not saying we quit easily. I’m saying we reach a point where we may have allowed the enemy to weaken our passion and we no longer see the purpose in it. Or we begin to question our own worthiness in achieving such a goal? Or perhaps we are not seeing the results after months of striving and the “other” things divert our attention?
To truly soar, we must prepare by remembering our source.
The source!
In Exodus 19:4, God reminds the Israelites through Moses of the source. His source! His strength! God said,
"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.”
We quit because we move away from God’s strength as we rely on only ours.Time after time God provided the way for His people, moving them out of Egypt, all the way to the promised land. Even when the Israelites repeatedly forgot to rely on God’s wings to protect them, He never changed, He never wavered, His ultimate plan for His children.
Just like any great parent, God wants us to soar!
In one of the most quoted verses in the Old Testament, Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah speaks of God’s strength for the weary, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
There it is! “But they that wait!”
We stop. We quit because at times we do not wait!
If we would just wait and wait on the Lord…the “Lord shall renew” our strength!”
To prepare to soar we must sometimes wait. And what we wait for can be the difference.
We wait for the source. His source. His strength.
In this intentional time of preparation, Isaiah goes on to say,
"they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
DADs, let us not quit in those areas eternal. Let us prepare to soar and persevere knowing God’s strength is our source.
Let us remember the words Paul, author of Galatians, wrote as an encouragement to the church there, in Galatians 6:9: "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
DADs don't quit!
To God be the glory!
DADs “get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon Men, Suit Up!
**This week we examined the source enabling us to soar! Next week we explore what it means to help be prepared for life's hurts, and how we can navigate through our sorrows**
Note:*For this new year of 2021, the combination of my age (understanding my own fragile mortality), this current and ongoing global pandemic, and most recently the personal loss I’ve experienced of one of my students, has amplified the need to land on one word... #Prepare.
In this "pursuit to prepare" I am determined to dedicate the 52 weeks of 2021 blogging every Week about one aspect of preparation God lays on my heart. This week 17 we talk about what it means to "prepare” to soar."
As mentioned in week 1, the word “prepare” means “to establish, fix, or apply.” It conveys the idea of deliberate effort over a prolonged period of time.
