Emus and Eagles

Passage

"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 (NKJV)


Pondering

Over the weekend I had a wonderful time teaching and preaching in Full Gospel Church J.B, Malaysia. After all my hard work I went for a delicious meal with Pastor James. It was the first time i'd ever eaten Emu meat and I was so chuffed to be eating this delicacy that I even took a picture of it on my PDA!

As I was eating the meal I heard the Lord say to me "Many leaders (including me some of the time) and old time Christian in church are like Emus, like overgrown chickens!". I didn't really take this thought into deeper meditation until our staff meeting this morning at church. Pastor Song was talking about the need for us to be like Eagles, not ground-bound, doing things in our own strength. He implied we must fly on the currents of the Holy Spirit.

Then sister Anna had a vision. At first it was a group of chicks with their legs bound at the bottom of a mountain. Then the vision changed into a group of eagles soaring the summit of the mountain. This reminded me of my Emu meal. Suddenly it dawned on me what the Lord meant. Like the chicks, the Emu is a ground-bound bird but it is much bigger, more impressive and quite fast. However, one thing it cannot do is fly.

In the same way we can be fat christians, full of knowledge of the word. We can be tall, upright and impressive looking with all our refined Christian posturing and even very fast in running in the ministry for Him. However, without wings we're ground-bound and not breaking through into the glorious ministry God has for us. The wings are faith and love. We need faith in the Lord and the Love of the Lord so we can soar higher and see further for Him. Soaring far above fleshly, ground ministry, far above the clouds.

Poem

A big, fat, furious Emu,
That's what many of us are.
Looking good and standing tall,
And going so very far.

But one thing that is missing
On the emu's resume
Are wings to fly so very high,
And leave the ground so far,far away.

Without You I am nothing,
An eagle without wings.
But with You even mountains move,
And above the clouds my spirit sings.

Prayer

"Father God, help me to soar like and eagle and not run gound-bound like the emu. Lord, strengthen my faith so I can boldly flap my wings of faith and love and leave all fleshly, earth-bound ministry to be led by Your Spirit. Amen!"