Those 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.
Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)
On my way home the other day, I noticed a hawk hopping across a stretch of grass bordering the highway. My first thought was that it might be injured. Then I spotted the carcass in its talons and realized the hawk was trying to take flight with a load that was too heavy for him.
Sound familiar? Most of us live day in and day out with burdens that weigh us down. We’ve forgotten those carefree days when the hardest decision was what to wear or where to find the best pizza.
I would love to soar like a hawk or an eagle, unfettered by the pull of this world. Yet I can’t soar if I’m clutching a load that is too heavy for me. Soaring can only happen when I leave that burdensome carcass at the foot of the cross. I have to be rid of in order to receive; new strength for the road ahead, the ability to rise above the world’s troubles, to run without growing weary, to walk with unflagging energy.
Just as the eagle casts himself on the wind, so discipleship requires a casting of myself, my self-sufficiency, and my cares on Jesus. Trust me, that carcass really isn’t worth the trouble.
Thought: “It is not the cares of today, but the cares of tomorrow, that weigh a man down. For the needs of today we have corresponding strength given. For the morrow we are told to trust. It is not ours yet. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear.” – George MacDonald
For further reading:
- 1 Peter 5:7
- Psalm 103:5
- Psalm 138:3
- Hebrews 12:1
Excerpt from my devotional, A Year in God’s Classroom