The Vision (8/30/12): Do what you can to fly up

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 (Isaiah 40:31).

I ran across this quote from Scottish minister Ralph Erskine (1685-1752) in Joel Beeke’s booklet Getting Back in the Race:  The Cure for Backsliding (p. 98).  I hope you find it as encouraging as I did:

Do what you can to fly up;

If you cannot fly, endeavor to run without wearying;

If you cannot run, endeavor to walk without fainting;

If you cannot walk because of your broken leg, then will you creep to the Physician with it and hold out the broken leg, the withered arm to him;

If you cannot creep, will you cry to him; “He hath not said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain”:

If you cannot cry, will ye look to Him; “Look to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth”:

If you cannot look to him, will you long for him, for “He satisfies the longing soul”:  sigh, and sob, and groan after him.

And if, after all, you think you can do nothing, because of your absolute weakness; then, O will you wait on the Lord, and you shall renew your strength; wait on him in the use of means; lie at the pool, and you cannot tell how soon you shall get strength to mount:  “Wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle