Find Joy In Today

 – By Lori Benka

I saw the most incredible sight the other day. As I was bringing my groceries into the house, I heard the cry of what I thought was one of our many hawks. The cry kept ringing out causing me to stop what I was doing and look upwards. I noticed four birds soaring on the air current. When one of them turned, the sun hit it in a way that allowed me to see the classic white head and white tail of a bald eagle. I was overjoyed with the thought of God blessing me with such a beautiful sight.

Isaiah 40:31 says:  “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.”

As I continued to bring in the rest of my groceries and watch the eagles, my nerd brain kicked in and I began to think about how an eagle soars. Were you aware as a storm approaches, an eagle will rise up and fly into the storm? He fearlessly approaches a storm catching the air currents to enable himself to rise above the storm more quickly. The pressure of the storm is used to allow him to glide without using up his energy by flapping his wings. He knows innately that just beyond the storm clouds are blue skies, peace, and security.

How do we Respond to Storms?

What do we do when we face storms in our own lives? Do we soar above them clinging to our Heavenly Father knowing He is working everything our for our good? Or are we flapping our wings tiring ourselves out by not believing God has everything under control?

Oftentimes, we become discouraged and take our eyes off of Jesus. As we begin to look around us, the enormous waves of fear and uncertainty crash over us. We try to listen for the voice of God, but instead, we hear the howling wind deafening us to our Father’s voice.

Many times we become weary and faint battling through the storms of life. All hope of ever coming out of our storm has been lost. We know it’s there somewhere, but we can’t see it through our storm clouded vision. The light of hope has been lost in a sea of fear, loss, discouragement and abandonment. Our sight of the Father has been obscured because we took our eyes off of Him and placed them onto our storm.

An Example From Peter

A good example of storms in the Bible can be found in Matthew 14:29-31. It reads:

“So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Peter was so brave when he dared to step out of the boat to walk on water to meet Jesus. As long as he kept his eyes focused on Jesus, He stayed above the storm. But the moment he took his eyes off of Jesus and put them on his own inadequacies, fear entered and caused him to sink.

We too, begin to sink when we take our eyes off of Jesus and put it on our circumstances. We can sink under the pressures of work, school, an illness, or a relationship.

But what does Jesus do when Peter cries out “Lord, save me!”? Seeing what was happening, He reached out His hand and caught Peter from drowning. He saw Peter in the middle of his fear and doubt and pulled him up from his trial.

It is so reassuring to know in spite of Peter’s shortcomings, in spite of his fear and lack of trust, the Lord Jesus reached out His hand to him anyway.

Are we Like Peter?

Are we like Peter? Do we sink under the weight of our difficulties because we have taken our eyes off of Jesus and put them on our own inadequacies causing us to become weary? Let’s look at Isaiah 40:28-31 again:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 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.”

Isn’t it reassuring to know that our heavenly Father never tires or faints. He is always watching over us giving power to us when we are weak. The key takeaway from this verse is to wait (hope, trust) on the Lord.

As we refocus our eyes back onto Him, our strength is renewed and we can rise above our storms like an eagle. It’s not always easy, but wouldn’t you rather soar than use up your energy flapping around in the waves of despair? Begin to focus your eyes on Jesus and rise above your storm to experience the peace and security only He can give.

Conclusion

Nobody likes it when life’s storms assail us. But if we learn to take our eyes off of our circumstances and place them on Jesus, His peace will flood our souls. Exodus 19:4 says, “‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.”

I can just picture Jesus taking us upon Himself and helping us to soar above our pain and suffering. What a beautiful thought to see Him reaching down and taking us out of the muck and mire and bringing us to Himself. That is where we find peace. Our peace is found in the arms of Jesus resting in Him and trusting Him to take care of us.

I don’t know what you may be going through today, but I hope you can find encouragement in something written. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and begin to allow His peace to reign in your life.

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