TRUST and SOAR

 JUNE 24, 2022

SURELY GOD IS IN THIS PLACE! HELP ME NOTICE. HELP US NOTICE TOGETHER.

We have been saying these words over the last month during worship as our prayer and acknowledgement and desire to notice where our Creator is at work around us. After all, Jesus promised that through the Holy Spirit he would be “with us always.”



As we close the week, I wanted to just share a personal experience of how this truth of being in God’s presence and noticing that we are in that company, gives comfort and strength.

First, let’s read todays scripture.

Isaiah 40:28-31

The Eternal, the Everlasting God,
The Creator of the whole world, never gets tired or weary.
His wisdom is beyond understanding.
29 God strengthens the weary
and gives vitality to those worn down by age and care.
30 Young people will get tired;
strapping young men will stumble and fall.
31 But those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength.
They will soar on wings as eagles.
They will run—never winded, never weary.
They will walk—never tired, never faint.



There is a backstory to what I want to share with, and it is this, My Father-in-law passed away on October 1, 2021, and just last weekend (June 18, 2022) we held a Memorial Service to Celebrate his life. The above verses are the verses he wanted as the text for his Funeral. He highlighted vs. 31 as the key verse, “those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run—never winded, never weary. They will walk—never tired, never faint.”

Great verse and promise isn’t it!!

In my preparation, to officiate the service I was reading about Eagles. That line of promise struck me that those who hope and trust, (some translations say wait) upon the Lord “They will soar on wings like eagles.” Now I have seen Bald Eagles in flight in New Brunswick while heading to Nova Scotia, its an awesome sight. This word picture in Isaiah 40 illustrates the effect God’s strength can have on a person. Some of you know this, an eagle relies on rising currents of warm air, called thermals, to soar and glide. Once an eagle locates a thermal, it spreads its wings and circles around within the thermal, rising higher and higher. Moving from one thermal to another, eagles can stay in the air for hours, expending a minimal amount of energy while flying to a chosen destination.

So, I felt, like my Father-in-law was wanting to remind us that if we will trust God’s loving promises and lean into the warm currents of his strength and care for our lives will be like the picture of the Eagle in flight moving from thermal to thermal, “expending a minimal amount of energy” in the day to day stuff because we are under God’s amazing watch. We will know, what Isaiah 40:28-29 says, The Eternal, the Everlasting God,
The Creator of the whole world, never gets tired or weary.
His wisdom is beyond understanding.
29 God strengthens the weary
and gives vitality to those worn down by age and care.


That’s powerful truth to live by.

That’s the back story. When I walked into my office earlier this week for the first time since Dad’s Memorial my eye caught something that has been on my office wall for several years now. It was a gift, by a Church member and friend, something they saw, and they thought of me. What was hanging on my wall?

That picture on that day, was the comfort and strength I needed, it was as though God was saying remember what your Father-in-law lived by that “those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run—never winded, never weary. They will walk—never tired, never faint.” That was for me my “SURELY GOD IS IN THIS PLACE” moment and I noticed.

Thanks Dad!!