You Were Made To Fly

“But those who wait on 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.”

Isaiah 40:31


I was raised in a home where we enjoyed competitive sports. My dad was an accomplished athlete who became a coach then an official. My dad was always drawing up plays that he thought would help us win but the thing he stressed most no matter what the sport we were participating in was conditioning. He would often tell me that winning came down to conditioning, the team that was in the best shape would ultimately win. What I learned in all the years of playing sports was that when an individual or a team was tired they tended to make more mistakes, sometimes costly. There is nothing as frustrating in sports as losing a game not because the other team was better but due to the fact you just ran out of energy.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that to run the race of faith we need to train like an Olympic athlete and eliminate anything that will hinder us and slow us down. Olympic athletes in biblical times were so serious about anything that might hinder their performance they actually ran naked so that nothing could hinder their stride. I don’t know about you but I’d run faster if I had to run naked. Be aware today that the devil wants nothing more than for you and I to be dragged down with sin and the burdens of this life so that we eventually give up and quit our race. Unfortunately, I already know what giving up feels like, and I also know what hanging in there feels like too. Like you, I prefer to feel what it’s like when I don’t quit or give up.  

The truth is, life can and does easily drag us down if we let it. It was Corrie ten Boom who once said, “when I look around I get confused and when I look down I get depressed, but when I look up my hearts at rest.” Hebrews 12:2 reminds us of the importance of keeping our eyes on the Lord, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Up is the direction we need to go! If you find yourself confused or depressed by all that is going on in the world today, I want to encourage you to look up. I saw a cute little plaque in an antique store that said, “You can’t soar with the eagles if you walk among the turkey’s.” Today it’s time you and I start soaring with the eagles!

I recall a devotional I read years ago that said even eagles come under attack. Are you aware that the only bird that dares to attack an eagle is the crow? That’s right, a crow. A crow will land on the eagles back and bite its neck. The interesting thing is how the eagle handles the attack. The eagle does not panic nor fight back with the crow; an eagle doesn’t spend time or energy on the crow but instead the eagle just opens its wings and begins to rise higher and higher in the heavens. The higher the altitude, the harder it is for the crow to breathe and eventually the crow just falls off due to a lack of oxygen. Talk about laying aside the weight and the sin that so easily entangles you.

We can learn a lot from the eagle and how we can get the crows off our own backs, which to me are the things that seek to burden or drag us down. We don’t need to fight back or give up and quit. No, loved one, we need to seek to go higher as it were up into the heavens to the very throne of God where we can find grace, help in our time of need. The story of the eagle reminds us to draw close to God knowing when we do the cares of this life just seemingly fall away. Keep your eyes on Jesus today and watch as the crows let go.


“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”

Hebrews 12:1


I LOVE YOU!