During a camping trip with some brothers, one of the brothers woke up from a dream and decided to share it with us.  He said that in the dream, us brothers were out on a lake fishing, and soaring above us were 50 eagles.  I asked him if it was just a dream, or if it was from the Lord (Christians will understand the difference).  He said it was just a dream, but the obvious symbolism in the dream struck me peculiar.

 

Later that morning, the other brother brought up the dream (it obviously struck him as peculiar as well).  I mentioned that it brought to mind the verse that says we "soar on wings like eagles."  The brother pointed out that it was from Isaiah, and I think he mentioned that that also was what he thought of when told the dream.  So we decided to sit down and have a prayerful look at the verse.

 

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

 

So, we considered the verse line by line, word by word.  The first thing we saw was the "waiting" on the Lord.  We have a tendency to get wrapped up in our anxieties and worries.  They tend to dominate our thoughts and to cast us into a cloud of darkness.  Whenever we are faced with a problem and we choose to worry about it, it steals our joy and our strength.  It causes us to feel weighed down and as if we are walking in darkness.  It consumes our thoughts.

 

So the encouragement from this verse is that instead of worrying, we are to wait upon our God.  As born again children of the Kingdom, we have great and precious promises made to us.  God is FOR us, not against us, and He works ALL things for our good.  So, knowing that God is good and in control, we should be able to take the problems and issues that appear in our lives, and cast them upon Him.  We should meet each anxiety with trust and an attitude of carelessness (or as they said in the old language "be careful for nothing").  What I mean by carelessness, is that we should not carry the weight of care/worry.  When faced with an obstacle, we should pray about it, listen for God's command (usually He will say "wait," at least that is my experience), and then TRUST.  To give it over to His care.  He will take care of it.

 

And when we do this, our gloom is overcome.  We are given NEW STRENGTH.  The problem is not allowed to zap us of our joy.  We have given it over to our Abba, and He will provide.  So we can trust Him to act in our favor and to do what He deems is best with the problem.

 

When we do this, it causes us to "mount up with wings as eagles."  And as one of the brothers pointed out, when an eagle is riding on the winds, he simply locks his wings in place and allows the wind to do the work for him.  He coasts along the currents of the wind.  And that is exactly what we do when we cast our cares upon Him.  We then REST in His sovereign hand and "go with the flow" of life, listening to His commands and trusting Him to be who He is.  Good and gracious and FOR us not against us. 

 

When we rest in Him like this, life requires no "work" for us.  It is peaceful and content.  We simply ride the wind and let it take us where it will.  But when we fight for control, when we unlock our wings and flap against the wind, it causes us to grow weary.  We get tired with the effort.  Rather then rest and coast, we fight and struggle.  So when we meet our problems in our own strength, we end up beating against the wind.  We end up tired and worn out.  This is the opposite of what we should be doing.  We trust Him, and go with the flow. 

 

And when we do that, we are able to "run" without growing weary.  The wind carries us along (it just occurred to me that the wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit - See John 3).  We are able to run (and that brings to mind the race that we are in - Heb. 12 and 2nd Tim. 4) without getting tired. 

 

The running is our "work" in this life.  Whatever the Lord has called us into, whatever ministry He has given us, if we do it on His power and not ours, that is, if we coast along with His wind instead of beating against the air with our own effort, we will not grow tired.  We will not feel beat down and wore out.  He will do the work through us, and we will be blessed with strength and joy!

 

The other part of that is our "walk."  The word "walk" brings to mind our walking in righteousness, walking in the Light, and walking in the Spirit.  It is our own personal path in righteousness and holiness.  And when we try to walk this path in our own strength, that is, when we try to battle sinfulness and unrighteousness in our own power and will, we grow faint.  It wears us out and we feel defeated.  BUT, when we go with the flow and let Him do the work in us (for we are His workmanship - Eph. 2:10), we will not grow faint.  This is the key to the commandment to not grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9).

 

What we end up with then, is complete trust and giving over of ourselves to His sovereignty.  Allowing Him to direct our paths and going with the flow of the Wind.  This causes complete Sabbath (rest).

 

But what about the 50 eagles?  Why 50?  I asked the brother if he knew that it was 50, and he said yes.  In the dream we had counted them.  The number 50 caused me to think of America.  The 50 states.  And initially I started to think, "1 brother from each state."  But when I questioned God on this, He let me know this was the wrong train of thought.  So I prayed again, "Lord what does the 50 represent?"  I thought of America again, but this time I thought "United States of America," and the Spirit drew my attention to the word "united."

 

That was it!  The Spirit was showing us that this was a group of UNITED brothers/sisters, all trusting in the sovereign Hand of God, and riding the Winds of His sovereignty!!  We were to focus on unity within the church, specifically with our group of brothers from our Thursday night Bible study (our "home" church).  This brought great joy and a renewed focus on this unity.  And it just so happens that we had read Psalms 133 right before this!

As for the fishing part, well, I think that is pretty plain.  It is the seeking and saving of the lost.  As the Lord told the disciples in Mark 1, they would be "fishers" of men.

 

Psalms 133
"1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!² It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;³ As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."

John 3:8 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

 

Hebrews 12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"

 

2nd Timothy 4:7 " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"

 

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

 

Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Mark 1:17 "And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."