RENEW ME, LORD
By Sandy Mayle
While working in the kitchen recently, an all-too-familiar thud sounded from the living room. I went immediately to the picture window and looked out and down.
On the ground below the window lay a large robin, wings outspread, motionless. A downy under-feather still clung to the window where its flight was abruptly terminated. Hopeful that it was merely stunned and not permanently injured, I returned to the kitchen.
When I next checked on the unfortunate redbreast, it was perched upright on little bird legs, wings now gathered close to its body. The robin’s head cocked alertly at nearby sounds, and it took a few steps. Then some more.
I watched as it eventually walked beneath the rhododendron bush and out of sight. Before long that robin was likely perching on a branch, basking in the warm sunshine, or engaged in a merciless tug-of-war with a stubborn worm, none the worse for its momentary trauma.
I can identify with that Robin. I’ve been on the receiving end of a few mid-flight thuds myself – the loss of a loved one, the death of a dream, even a relatively minor calamity that, added to already adverse conditions, creates a mountain I fly into rather than over. The sudden stop knocks me nearly senseless. There I lay, disoriented, paralyzed, vulnerable.
But if I cock my head to catch His words, I hear,
“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…He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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 be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV).
The robin teaches us to wait quietly for strength to return. The Word teaches us the Source of that strength:
“In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.” – Jesus (John 16:33 AMP).
Because God gives power to those who wait for Him, we know we’ll soar in eagle territory again!
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Sandy Mayle is a freelancer who has written for Focus on the Family, Prayer Connect, Just Between Us, and many other publications. She and her husband Dave have been married for 48 years and have three sons and eight grandchildren. She can be contacted at dasmayle@gmail.com.
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