by Larissa Odell

Mount up with wings like eagles, not with wings like hummingbirds.

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“…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.”
Isaiah 40:31 English Standard Version

I love hummingbirds. Every year, just after Memorial Day, I put out our hummingbird feeder, and faithfully change out the sugar water each week. Every year, even though there are reports of hummingbirds nearby, they don’t come to my house until mid-July. I’m not good at waiting on the hummingbirds to arrive. I believe that as soon as I put out the feeder, BOOM, there should be hummingbirds.

I’m not very good about waiting on the Lord either.

I believe that when a need is realized and a prayer is said, BOOM, an answer should appear. That is often not the case. Like waiting weeks for the hummingbirds to find my feeder, I usually have to wait weeks, months, or even years for God to respond. During this waiting, I have to remind myself that this is a time to be in the Word, praise and worship, and remember that God has to move, shift, or adjust a thousand different things in order to answer our prayer.

Too often, we humans act as hummingbirds during our waiting.

We buzz around at forty miles an hour looking for answers, and nourishment, in flowers and feeders everywhere. Is it here, here, here, or maybe here? We need to be more like the eagle. Whether the eagle is stoically perched high above, or majestically soaring catching air currents in order to barely flap his wings, he patiently looks upon the fields and streams. He is waiting for his next meal, the answer to his hunger, to appear in due time.

“At the right time, I, the LORD, will make it happen.”
Isaiah 60:22b New Living Translation

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado