“Soar like eagles!” (Isaiah 40:31, The Message)

Those who are in need of assistance can often be demoralized by the size and scope of the very organization or unit of government designed to help them. “Larger” can mean impersonal, one-size-fits-all assistance where a personal, caring interaction is required. “I’m just a number,” some may complain when interacting with something larger and overwhelming. 

“Soar like eagles!” taken from Isaiah 40:31, is our theme this year as we look to expand our current enrollment at St. John’s Lutheran School. But Isaiah spends most of the time in this chapter proclaiming the expansive and amazing scale of God’s glory and power, especially as compared to humanity’s insignificance. 

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of (God’s) hand? … Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord?” (Is. 40:12) and then, “The nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales. … All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by (God) as less than nothing and emptiness.” (Is. 40:15)

God is indeed, as the old praise refrain reminds us, an awesome God. And it should not surprise us, then, that many will determine that God is too big; too big to notice and too big to care for those who are insignificant by comparison. If even a nation is like the dust on the scales, too insignificant to even be counted, then one person is even more so.

“To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.” (Is. 40:25) … Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” (Is. 40:28)

But that is when the prophet throws in a bit of a punchline, as it were. While we could see ourselves as too insignificant for God – we could conclude that it is rather easy to hide from God’s presence or that God must not care, the prophet reminds us that God’s power and significance are actually DESIGNED for the benefit of those who otherwise may seem insignificant.

“(God) does not faint or grow weary;” the prophet declares, “(God) gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might (God) increases strength.” (Is. 40:28-29)

The secret is waiting, trusting that indeed God has designs for God’s people that ARE for our good. Actually, the Hebrew word translated simply as “wait” carries with it the idea of expectantly waiting, waiting in hope for what will happen.  While we may be highlighting only a few words in our community outreach and designs to expand the impact of our school, soaring on the wings of eagles is only a small piece of the equation:

“They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Peace and joy,

PJA