Wings

Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up {with} wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary --Isaiah 40:31

It has been believed for some time that the South American condor, when old, commits suicide. Many have thought that the great bird would gain enough altitude to ensure its death, fold its wings, and fall to the earth. I was talking to a friend from Argentina whose uncle, a famous gaucho, often observed the odd behavior of the condor and began his own investigation. He discovered that the condor was not committing suicide at all. Actually, increasingly with age the great bird lost its eyesight, so instead of catching the wind and riding high on his magnificent wings, the vulture would flap unnaturally with all its strength to avoid what it thought was imminent danger. The bird would continue fleeing what did not exist until it gained so much altitude that it would run out of oxygen, have a heart attack, and fall to its death. 

I was recently told that many believers never receive answers to their prayers, so they need to learn to deal with disappointment. However, as believers we always receive answers to prayers, and the problem lies in so often praying wanting resolution; we want to know what to do or we want to direct the activity of God. We seek and do not find because we have wrongly defined what finding is. What we find when we pray, ask, and seek is faith, a simple thing that is much more enjoyable than immediate answers. Faith takes the whole situation out of our hands and places it in God's hands, removing us from the throne and stopping the frenetic beating of our little wings, giving us our birthright: the gliding, soaring wings of eagles. If through unbelief we begin to beat our wings and lose sight of Jesus, gaining what we think to be altitude, we are only giving ourselves heart attacks. I told Betty the story of the condor and asked, “Where do you think I will go with this story?” She responded, “For you, it can only go to one place: rest.” We laughed, but I acknowledged the fact. Rest in God will not make us tired or weary. Rest is not passivity but trusting in God’s activity. 

- Mike Wells