Resilience – Renewal like an Eagle 

“What’s wrong with me?”  I asked myself. My heart sank as I saw the email requests and problems flooding into the inbox while I was on call. After four years of being on the same post, I knew that I could handle most of them with no sweat. So why was I bothered and somewhat reluctant to handle these duties? Perhaps I was tired of the high demands of being on call 12/7. Or was I losing my ambition of gaining new job skills? Or was the job too stressful for my age? In my prayer, I pondered how I should ask God to help me. Then, my late father’s favorite Bible verse came to mind: “Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps 103:5).

I didn’t know exactly what “your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” meant, but I sensed that was what I needed. I asked God to help me revive with resilience –renewal like an eagle.

Similarly, we may experience feeling downcast and tired of participating in holy work from time to time. Taking a short break or sharing the workload with others may bring some relief. However, how do we revive and rekindle our zeal? The psalmist offers a practical solution. Ps 103:2 reads: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

When we recount all His benefits to us and find joy in serving Him, the strength of our youth is renewed like the eagle’s. We find the strength to soar over things that weigh us down, regardless of work pressures or burdens, human relations, temptations or inner struggles.

            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. (Isa 40:31)

God is our strength. He fills us with many blessings. When we put our hope in the Lord and wait for Him, our strength is renewed and we shall mount up with wings like eagles. This is the resilience we need to help us cope with the stresses and challenges of this life in our spiritual journey.

Questions for Reflection

1.      How do you cope with the stresses and challenges of your job?

2.      Apostle Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would have the strength of heart through His Spirit (Eph 3:16). How do you gain strength and renew it when doing holy work?