“Those who hope in the Lord will soar . . will run . . will walk.” Isaiah 40:31 NIV
“In the overriding providence of God, every season has a reason and a promise.”
My thoughts today are, “be prepared.”
Be prepared! That was a good motto when I was a young Boy Scout, and it’s sound advice still today. Your experience of life will not be the same all the time, so be prepared for it. There is ebb and flow to life – times the tide is in and times it is out – times of appointed seasons of spring and winter – bright days and dark nights.
On your better days, you might wish that it were that way all the time, but it won’t be. On worse days, you will be more glad for this reality than you may know right now. There is a recurring statement in the Bible – “And it came to pass” – that refers to the chronology of the passing of time but can also suggest a circumstance passing, as a person encouraged themselves this way, “it came to pass; it didn’t come to stay!” Be assured that even things too tough too long are only temporary.
The Bible teaches, “There is a time for everything and a season for very activity . . God has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:1/11 NIV. In the overriding providence of God, every season has a reason, though oftimes that reason may not seem as clear at a given moment. The first step toward finding that reason is simply believing that, in God, there will always be something good deposited in your life. If you are not expecting good, you won’t be looking for it; and if you are not looking, you are likely to miss the good altogether. That would be a waste of the experience.
There are hurtful things that will touch your life that are not by God’s initiation, but nothing can touch your life without His involvement and benevolence along the way. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them . . He chose them to become like His Son.” Romans 8:28 NLT. Many stop reading just before the words, “work together for good,” and unfairly conclude that God caused their problems and pain. Your God is of flawlessly righteous character and tempts no one with evil. See James 1:13 NIV.
The prophet Isaiah speaks of three very different experiences in life – times when you “soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, and walk and not faint.” See Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV. When you can, soar! When you can’t soar, run! When you can’t run, walk! Whatever the circumstance or season, move in the direction of hope. Read Hebrews 6:18-20 NIV.
You know the times when you soar – times you best enjoy life’s fullness. All is going well; your spirit and hopes are high; you reach heights not reached before; you succeed in unexpected measure. You will soar on eagle’s wings – on strength beyond your own; it will be God’s!
There are times when you run, not as effortlessly as soaring, nor as exhilarating. Do what you must; do as you can. Don’t give up (2 Corinthians 4:1 NLT); definitely, do not quit running the race (2 Timothy 4:6-8 NIV). You will not “grow weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9-10 NIV). There will be times when you walk; life is sometimes just one step at a time. To move forward, put one foot in front of the other and keep doing so, knowing that for now that will be good enough. You will not faint. See Colossians 1:10-14 NKJV/2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV. In each season, keep your eyes upon God to work His will for good. In God, you will soar again, if you run when you can and walk when you must.
My prayer for you today is that you look for God’s best in every experience, every season.