It's good to be living here now, and we're beginning to find most of the important things.  No matter how carefully you label boxes, some things just disappear during a move.  But I found a small box with Carol's name on it and inside were three eggs and $50.  When I asked what they were from, she blushed and said every time I preached a poor sermon, she put in an egg.  I told her that was pretty good to only have had 3 bad ones so far.  "Sorry, Bob, but whenever I get a dozen eggs I sell them.  That's where the $50 came from."  I guess I've laid a few eggs in the ministry!  (Okay, it's an old joke.)

          Hal Simmons is a chaplain to prisoners.  A former prize fighter, he spent most of his youth in foster homes, juvenile detention facilities and jails, always looking for a fight and usually in trouble with the law.  Somewhere in his late 20's after booze, drugs and crime had left him empty, Hal found the Lord, and in time began a ministry to prison inmates.  Today, in his 60's, Hal proclaims the Gospel of Jesus with insight and power to a truly tough audience, men incarcerated for any kind of crime you can imagine.

          Recently Jean Torkelson of the Rocky Mtn. News wrote about Chaplain Hal conducting a Sunday morning chapel service.  At one point he invited the prisoners to suggest a hymn they all could sing.  One of them said, "How about I'll Fly Away', whose last verse reads, "When the shadows of this life have grown, like a bird from prison bars has flown -- I'll fly away."  Those words drew chuckles from men who wanted to do just that - fly like a bird freed from its cage.

          Ever wanted to do that -- to fly away?  Ever wanted to get rid of all your things and move to a remote island where you could start over in life or just be alone?  Carol and I felt a bit like that this past week as we sorted through all our things, wondering about the value of keeping this or that.  Thank the good Lord for the Garage Sale, the garbage man and the people who helped us move.  More than once this past week I recalled the wisdom in the words of a favorite seminary professor who told us in his final chapel address, "Guys, travel light!"

          And nothing seems to me to travel more lightly and powerfully than an eagle.  Two years ago Carol and I took the train to Glenwood Springs.  It runs through 38 tunnels, along mountain rivers far away from roads in places one doesn't normally see.  And there in February we saw dozens of bald eagles perched above open rivers, waiting silently like guardians, casting an eagle eye, watching everything around it.

          Isaiah's words about the eagle are touching to those of us who've ever seen this majestic bird.  The eagle soars high and magnificently in the skies, swooping down to snare a fish or gracefully perform its aerial acrobatics during mating season.  Or else it sits silently on a branch, motionless like a statue, strong and vigilant, watching and waiting.  Little wonder the Continental Congress adopted the eagle as the symbol of America.  Benjamin Franklin had almost convinced the delegates to choose the all-American turkey, native to America, but Congress wisely chose the bald eagle.  The Bible never talks about soaring on wings like a turkey, and somehow a hymn called, "On Turkey's Wings" doesn't sound the same.  Resourceful or not, the turkey does not lift our spirits like the eagle does.

          The eagle can survive captivity, but it doesn't like it;  It wants to be free.  Some people today feel the same, caged in by unwise decisions, poor lifestyle, or circumstances over which they have no control.  They may feel trapped by the limitations of age, ability, family or health.  They may be the ones who wish they could go to some tropical island where life is all bliss and no problems.  "Do you not know?" [wrote Isaiah]  "Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom."

          Prophets did not have an easy life.  Their messages were not well received.  Delivering a Word of hope to people in oppression and bondage made them an easy target.  But Isaiah had it far better than Jeremiah or Ezekiel who were usually in danger simply for speaking the truth.  Isaiah tried to give hope and encouragement to his people.  He says in this wonderful text that God will watch over us and not grow tired or weary like we do.  God is everlasting and though we can't fathom His mysteries, He does not abandon His creation.

          Isaiah says, "God gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ..."  We know that feeling, don't we?  Tired and weary by the struggles of life, we long for the vigor of youth, the energy and strength we once had and feel is long gone.  We'd love to have the energy of the little child running to play, or the youthful athlete winning the race.  Yet Isaiah tells us, "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ..."

          But being young is not the answer.  It will not automatically give us what we lack.  The "good ole days" of youth have problems of their own.  Who of us would truly want to go back to our teenage years?  Teens today know a complex life of school, homework, cliques, peer pressure, expectations, and just trying to understand life.  It isn't just a matter of getting up, doing the chores and going to school any more.  It's complicated regulations and state-mandated testing.  It's security guards, locker searches and metal detectors.  It's being aware of so much frightening information when all you want is to have friends.  And it's also being bullied now and then.  It happens to us all.

          Like everyone else, youth today are searching for a better self-concept and feelings of being worthwhile.  They'd just like to have friends and be a friend, and be kids without the complications.  But society won't let this happen.  They want them to act impulsively like kids but spend money like adults.  Or they want kids to act like adults but don't give you wholesome examples to follow.  We live in an age of few heroes, few people to look up to.

          To all such persons, Isaiah says, "Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Those who hope in the Lord Jesus feel renewed by His strength, not their own.  Those who take refuge in the Lord are protected from the fallout of life.  When you trust in the Lord, you're not alone!  God is there with His Divine Helping Hands to raise us up when we fall and heal our bruises.  God in His Son Jesus picks us up, dusts us off, and forgives us.  He gives us dignity in forgiveness, strength for each day, and now and then He helps us soar on wings like eagles.

          By His power, you and I can once again "run and not grow weary";  we can "walk and not be faint."  It only takes hope in the resurrection of our crucified Lord, and faith that God loves us no matter what.  When Christ is our Savior, by His power we live a better life, a life filled with just as many obstacles, but they won't knock us down forever.  And no matter how bad we think we have it, most of the rest of the world has it far worse.

          Last Thursday as we were making the last of our several trips with cars jammed to capacity, it occurred to me how exhausted we were from carting around the things we think are important.  Our backs and arms ached from lifting, and our legs throbbed from running up and down steps.  Most of all, we both longed for a well-ordered home once again.  (I still do!)  It seemed we'd never get that last box packed and the old basement emptied.

          But finally it was all done and I turned onto I-25 for that last load.  I looked up and here was a hitch-hiker walking in the rain, soaking wet and carrying probably all he owned in his backpack.  I didn't stop for him, as I had no room, but I wanted to.  I've always felt a little sorry for hitch-hikers, but that afternoon for just a few moments I actually envied him.  He was wet, but he didn't have 150 boxes and seven rooms full of stuff to unpack.  And he probably had no house payments!  All he had to do was keep walking and hope someone gave him a ride.  But my feelings of envy didn't last long when I thought of the warm bed to sleep in that night with someone I love.  And though we were surrounded by boxes and days of labor ahead, we owned a nice new home.  All the traveller could have hoped for was another ride or maybe a dry place to spend the night.

          No matter how weary you may grow, no matter how faint you may feel, always remember two things:  It doesn't last forever, and you and I have a new home at the end of our journey, a home with the Lord.  Jesus is our wonderful Lord.  In Him we are forgiven and have a home.  In Him we have a family that loves and cares for us.  No matter where you go, when you have faith in Christ, the minute you walk through a church door, you're with family.  We may fight now and then, but we're still the family of God, and we need to care for our own.

          Isaiah tells us, "God gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."  If you're weary and tired, look to Jesus -- He renews us!  If you're feeling faint, look to Jesus -- He helps us bear our burdens.  If you're lonely, look to Jesus -- He is your true Friend.  I have a brother-in-law, a great man who's dying right now, and my sister says he isn't worried a bit, because he knows someone greater -- His Lord Jesus.  I pray you all know Him too, as Lord, as Friend, and as the One who helps us soar like the eagle.  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.