The Crawl

Isaiah 40:28-31

These are familiar verses to many. They are often quoted as encouragement and inspiration.

28. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the Earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.

29. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

30. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

31. But 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 faint.

There are some obvious observations regarding this passage. There are three items to mention. As Christians, we can fly, run or walk. You may have listened to sermons using those three as the main points. Have you noticed preachers like to use three points in their messages? Since I’m not a preacher, I like using three just to aggravate them but that’s a different blog!

If you think about your spiritual life you probably remember times when you have soared on spiritual eagle’s wings. You may also remember times when you have run and even walked on your spiritual journey. What’s the difference between flying, running and walking?

These verses do not imply one is better than the other. Those who HOPE in the Lord WILL renew their strength. They will soar, run and walk. The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. We will all soar, run and walk at times.

The real question isn’t about which of these three is better. It’s more about how we should help Christians whose walk has become a crawl. Many times we see believers struggle with issues, doubt, fear, anxiety, sin, depression, etc. and the list goes on and on. How should we help them while they’re crawling spiritually? Let’s face it; it’s easy to stand along side fellow Christians when they are soaring, running or walking. It’s difficult to get on our knees and crawl with someone. That requires effort and you might even get dirty.

Make it your prayer this week to look for someone crawling. Who knows, before long they may be walking? Eventually, you may have the privilege of seeing them soar spiritually with eagles. It all starts with HOPE in the Lord and hope comes from obedience.