Soaring

Thursday, December 21st
Soaring
By: Chrissy Cooney

I recently sat in a small group with a glider pilot discussing the idea of “rising on wings like eagles.” I was completely amazed as he explained that glider pilots watch the eagles, because the eagles know how to detect a thermal – a column of rising air caused by the heat of the sun. Once an eagle finds such an updraft, it will stop flapping its wings and instead, outstretch them, flying in a circular pattern higher and higher.  

They fly high without flapping. They gain altitude without striving. They let the invisible, unseen forces of the air lift them up higher and higher.
 
And then from the highest heights they can soar, wings outstretched, traveling great distances without exerting much energy. Using thermals, eagles travel farther than they ever could in their own strength and go much higher than would be possible by flapping their own wings.   
Other birds use thermals too, but there is one thing that makes eagles different.  While most birds won’t fly in rain, the eagle will use the turbulence from the storm, it will use the updraft, to gain altitude above the clouds and above the storm.  

This concept opened my eyes to a new understanding of Isaiah 40:30-31 “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but 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.”  Our God never grows tired, and He is the giver of strength and power. If we will wait on Him, trust Him, recognize Him in our surroundings, and let Him move us in His timing - then we can rise and soar. Whether the season that we are in is sunny or stormy, His strength will carry us further than our own capabilities ever could.  
 
Seasons of waiting come in all shapes and sizes.  Waiting for an answer, a breakthrough, the fulfillment of a promise, or perhaps a miracle.  It can be very tempting to try to make things happen on our own, striving to bring about our own change. Let’s be like eagles. Let’s wait patiently and trust in God.  Let’s watch for where He is moving and catch that updraft, soaring instead of striving.