My newest exercise is swinging. Every morning, I walk and stop at the playground. I swing for 15 minutes. Experts say swinging strengthens arm, leg, and stomach muscles. The motion helps our brains process balance and stability. It also boosts endorphins, creating feelings of happiness. I love swinging because it calms me and makes me feel like I’m soaring over whatever disturbs my peace of mind.

I looked for Bible verses I could say while swinging. I found Psalm 118:19, “Swing wide, you gates of righteousness and let me pass through, and I will enter into God’s presence to worship him only.” This verse reminded me of the Sunday School song,

“Swing wide the door of your heart to the King of Kings, 

Bid him welcome for wonderful peace he brings,

He will shelter you under his outstretched wings,

Swing wide the door of your heart to the King of Kings.”

This is a good song to sing while you are swinging!

God must be proud of the eagles he created, as 33 Bible verses mention them. God is likened to an eagle in the Bible because this powerful bird represents strength and protection. As an eagle cares for its young, so God cares for us. (God is) “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, and spreads its wings to catch them, and carries them on its feathers” (Deut. 32:11).

A woman in my Bible Study asked me to visit her daughter, who was in the hospital for chemotherapy. As I considered the visit, I prayed about what to say. When I arrived, she said, “I am thankful for your prayers, but will you read Scripture over me because the words of Scripture comfort me?” I read Psalms 121, 46, and 91, all of which speak of God’s care and His protection under His sheltering wings. After that, she asked for Isaiah 40, focusing on the verses about God renewing our strength. She shared that she imagines herself being lifted out of her hospital bed, soaring above her pain and sickness. While she admitted her weakness, she said she prays the Lord will renew her strength so she can face whatever He has planned with confidence and grace.

I continued to read Scripture until she fell asleep. Then, moved by her faith, I went into the hallway and cried for ten minutes. I came to minister, but she broke my heart with her faith. As A.B. Simpson wrote, “No breath of prayer is lost. The longer it waits, the larger it becomes.”

The prophet Isaiah wrote 39 chapters, delivering bad news to the Israelites: they were sinners and faced judgment. Then, in chapter 40, God tells Isaiah to speak comfort to the people and tell them the good news, “Your sin has been paid for” (Isa. 40:2). This is real comfort since “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

John Calvin wrote, “We have a multitude of sins, we are not confused about that. What is confusing is how God’s love can cover them.” Isaiah 40:2 points us to Jesus, our sin-bearing Savior. He “received double for all our sins” by his death on the cross for us. This is not just good news. It is the best news.

My stepfather broke all of the Ten Commandments, even “thou shalt not kill” (Ex. 20:13). This man had abandoned our family, so we avoided contact with him. I am ashamed to admit I stopped praying for him. When he was near the end of his life, my sister visited him. He asked her to have a preacher come to see him because he wanted to get right with God. My sister responded quickly to this opportunity because he had always rejected any talk of salvation. She told him she could pray with him right now, and he said, “Will it work without a preacher?” He confessed his sin and cried tears of repentance and regret. He prayed for Jesus to save him and take him to heaven. He asked my sister to forgive him for how he had treated her and our family. He died the next day. The funeral we were dreading turned into a celebration of eternal life. Another sister was skeptical that a man like him was in Heaven, but I picture the man I gave up on now soaring with Christ. “Your sad days are gone, your sins are pardoned” (Isa. 40:2 NLT).

This brings me to Isaiah 40:31: “They that 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 faint.” The verse places soaring first. As we confess our sins and fears to God, we experience a sense of freedom and the feeling of soaring like eagles. Knowing we can rely on God, we are empowered to run life’s race, for He is the source of our strength. Ultimately, we walk in the assurance of eternal life in Heaven because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

I ask myself, is all this really true? Can I count on these promises? Is my faith strong enough? The Holy Spirit answers me a thousand times, yes. Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.”

God is able to do these things because he is a mighty God. He wants to do these things because he is a faithful Father. I may be bruised and shaken, and sometimes badly hurt. Yet, in faith, I have come to know I am all right, even when everything around me is all wrong.

I may not always soar, but I will always walk. When I feel faint, the promises of Scripture will keep me from falling. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith is also believing in miracles I have seen, like the one with my stepfather. The test of my faith is whether I can let God be God.

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