Strength from Above

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. Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

One day I wandered into the backyard after a heavy rain shower. Perched resolutely on the fence was a red-breasted robin. I had to laugh as I took in the appearance of this poor bird that evidently had not found a dry enough shelter from the deluge. Her normally sleek feathers were fuzzy and ruffled, closely resembling a young child just awakening from his nap.

What held my attention, however, was the manner in which she was drying herself; she was very busily turning her head from side to side, using her beak to alternately further separate her feathers, thus enabling them to dry. I continued with my chores and soon had forgotten about the little robin and her predicament.

Much later I glanced in that direction again and was stunned to see her in that same exact position, still performing the exact same ritual. Detained by the winds and rains of the summer storm, her goal was to wing her way upward again. Undaunted by the forces that had driven her to land, her eyes and her heart were already back in the sky! I held my breath as she prepared to fly; would she be able to do it? Yes! With a final sweep of her head she lifted her wings and began her victory ascent!

God blessed even the fowl of the air with the instincts to respond naturally and without question to the obstacles presented to them. Why is it then that we, His most prized creation, find it so difficult to lean back in His arms and use the survival instincts He has graced us with? We need to relax and know that He is in control.

Lord, help us today to cast our eyes upward from which our redemption comes, and take courage in the knowledge that it is not all in the strength of our own wings, but it is in Your supreme strength.