"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 40:31)
Isn't it funny how we can slip into some of the changes of life with barely a feather ruffled, while other changes shake us to the core. I read some time ago a wonderful description of how the eagle soars. The wind that lifts this mighty bird to great heights could just as easily dash it against the mountainside. It is the same wind, but the eagle has learned to tilt its wings in a way that enables it to soar instead of crash. How do we tilt our wings when the wind of change blows across our lives? It is all a question of attitude and, I believe, trust. For if the eagle wasn't convinced that the wind would definitely carry it, then the tilt would be to no avail. But soar it does, leaving those who look on filled with amazement at the sight.
Trust is a vital component of our everyday lives. If you are making a journey, for example, then you trust the bus driver to take you to the destination shown on the front of the bus. And people who enter our lives every day hold some of our trust for things that are of little or perhaps great importance to us. It would be difficult to survive if we could not trust in even the simplest things.
I remember standing at the front of our church years ago, promising before God to put my trust in the young man standing beside me. Trusting that he would love, honor, respect and care for me "till death do us part." In a very short time that trust had grown and grown. I wonder if you have ever thought of how much trust you have put in your husband. He is your partner, your strength in times of fear and crisis, your spiritual companion and your friend. When he is with you day after day after day you come to rely on him for so much, and I am sure the opposite is true. That is important in these days of marital break-ups. Yet perhaps we also need to re-examine our hearts and see who we trust more - God or our husband?
Shortly after our marriage my husband went into full-time Christian work as an evangelist. The wind of change blew into our home as he started to travel with the Gospel. I was immensely proud of him in his sphere of service, but soon realized this change had its drawbacks! It seemed that as soon as he walked out the door with his suitcase something would go wrong.
On one such occasion he had been gone only a few hours when disaster struck. The children were in bed and I was chatting over a cup of tea with a girlfriend when a mouse ran across the living room floor! Now I am not very squeamish (I've worked for years as a nurse in accident and emergency, and coronary care units) but the greatest fear of my life is mice. I bounded the stairs two at a time leaving my friend to face the mouse, and standing on top of the bed I phoned my father, "Daddy, come quick - there is a mouse in the house!" My father tried to reassure me that the mouse was probably more afraid of me that I was of it - but that couldn't be possible. Either he caught that mouse of I would move out of my house!
In a short time I heard my living room being pulled apart as my father and my friend hunted for the mouse. (The poor stereo unit never recovered!) Having been persuaded that the mouse had got out I returned to the living room, comforted only by the fact that a neighbor's cat had been brought in - a great mouser, we were told.
The cat sat under an occasional table while another attempt was made to take a cup of tea, and like a flash the mouse ran out between my feet, under the cat's nose and out through the kitchen into the garden with my father in hot pursuit. The cat did not move and I was hysterical!
That night I longed for my husband to be at home. My fear had raged out of control and I needed him so much. So I knelt by my bed and through the tears I talked to the One I knew could never leave me and the One who had called my husband to go with the Gospel. His peace came and I knew I was in a training program of trust. Could I trust God with my fears and my family while Philip was away? Over these last years, I have learned that I can.
In fact, I think I have been privileged. Because of Philip's many absences I have learned to lean on my Savior more than most. Two of our three children were born with multiple profound handicaps and through heartache I have experienced the wonderful knowledge of God's surrounding love and provision. Some of questioned my husband leaving me under such circumstances, but I have never resented his work, quite the opposite in fact. And if he had never been away I would never known the depths of the companionship of God, never felt Him dry my tears or fill me with His peace.
God is gracious, and only once did Philip have to return home because of a family crisis. He was missioning in Scotland when our daughter had to be admitted to the hospital. The next day when she lapsed into unconsciousness the doctor advised me to send for my husband. I did not think I would be able to reach him, but in a remarkable sequence of events God engineered his return home. Cheryl survived that incident and God gave her four more years with us before taking her home.
Winds of heartache, grief and loneliness have blown frequently through my life but I am learning to "tilt" my wings. Learning to trust the God who sends the winds, realizing that He wants me to soar to new heights with Him. And praying daily that those who look on will see the goodness of God and will realize that it is all a question of trust.
~ By Catherine Campbell
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