The song, “They Who Wait upon the Lord” is based upon Isaiah 40:30-31. “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for 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.”

Do you see the three in this passage. Walk, run and fly. We think we should all be able to walk – but God is more powerful than that. We know that we all tire if we run – but God is more powerful than that. And none of us can fly – but God is even more powerful than that.

This verse has great personal meaning to me because of my young cousin Ryan Rose. Ryan was born with a defective heart valve. He underwent open-heart surgery when he was just a few days old. He underwent another surgery when he was two. And he needed another surgery before he turned five.

His family, however, was disintegrating. His mother, Carol, met with the doctors and the counselors, and just could not commit to the surgery. It was a risky procedure and her life was already difficult. Her husband was sometimes missing, and sometimes present but withdrawn. My mother-in-law asked me to talk with Carol and Ryan. I spent a couple hours each week with them for nearly a year. But, the doctors, the counselors and I were not enough to overcome her doubts.

On the Thanksgiving just before Ryan’s sixth birthday my mother-in-law gathered the whole family. I took all the children into the backyard and we played games while the adults watched the turkey. We played several games, and decided that our next game would be tag.

We only played tag for a couple minutes when my nephew stopped me. “Uncle Rob, can we play something else?” “I think everyone likes playing tag. What else would you want to play?” “I don’t know.” “Well Ryan, what’s wrong?” “Uncle Rob, I can’t run.” And he couldn’t. He could not even walk fast without tiring. His heart just could not pump enough blood to keep up.

I’d forgotten. He was so healthy. So normal. He was a wonderful, beautiful child. Except, he could not run. We played a lot of other games and everyone had fun. It was about this time that his mother realized she could not wait any longer.

It took time to schedule the specialists. And then it took time for Ryan to get over a virus. And, by then, it was too late. His body was too worn out, and he they could not get his heart to start again after the surgery.

Carol asked me to give the message at the funeral. I choose Isaiah 40:30-31. I reminded everyone of how Ryan, even as such a wonderful child, could not run. He could not play tag with his friends. And I said that this was all different now. The power of God is so immense that Ryan will never grow faint again. In Heaven, Ryan can run. Ryan can play tag all day and never tire. And if he tires of running, well, he can just fly like an eagle. This passage reminds us of how weak, just how mortal we all are. And it tells us that God is more powerful than anything we can imagine.

“Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for 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.”