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.
There is a hawk living in my neighborhood. I see him often when I am out for my daily walk. Sometimes sitting on the wire, other times on a branch near the road. Actually, there is a pair of hawks and I see them fly together high in the sky, swooping across each other’s paths or flying apart. I tell myself I see him when I need encouragement or support because he reminds me of that passage in Isaiah – They will soar on wings like eagles. I realize my hawk is smaller than an eagle, but I am small and he fits the bill for me. He reminds me of hope.
There is a verse in the New Testament that speaks of hope. We don’t always associate it with hope because it is in what has been called the love chapter. The thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians. Verse thirteen. “Now these three remain – faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” True, but perhaps the most miraculous of these is hope.
Hope is our belief that good will happen. That what we need will be available. Everyday hope. But Isaiah speaks of a greater hope. A hope that promises renewed strength. To run and not grow weary. To walk and not be faint. This is hope in the Lord. It is the assurance that God Almighty is in control and basing our actions and expecting our outcomes on that belief. Hope in the Lord helped the Children of Israel pass through the night of the Death Angel without fear. It led Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace and Daniel into the lion’s den. It waited with the Disciples in the upper room anticipating the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is not wistful thinking or optimistic planning. Hope in the Lord is the anticipation of the miracle.
Paul speaks of the ultimate miracle of hope in his letter to the church at Rome. It is the promise of redemption for those who are the children of God. We wait, he writes, in patient expectation of what is to come for those who are God’s chosen through His Son. Jesus Christ is our living hope.
And those whose hope is in the Lord will soar on wings of eagles, above the fears and misgivings of the world.
“May the God of hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope.” Romans 15:13, the Message
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