Wings That Soar

During my morning walk on Friday, the wind was whipping up rather ferociously. It wasn't yet a chilly wind, so it was a pleasant walk in spite of the breeze.

At one point I glanced up at a bird far overhead. She was struggling against the wind. Her wings were beating desperately, but all she was doing was maintaining. She wasn't moving forward at all. I watched her solefully, wondering at the persistence of this helpless creature, curious to see how she would fare.

Finally, she stopped. She didn't fall to the ground or get blown back. She simply spread her wings and was still. The wind lifted her and in one glorious moment, she changed direction and soared away, bolstered by the mighty unseen hand that held her. It was beautiful.

I am so much like my fellow traveler. I strive and push and worry and strain....and where does it get me? I'm lucky if I just "maintain." But the moment I say, "God, I can't do this on my own, please help!" something amazing happens. He doesn't always rush right in. Often He waits a few more moments. And when in my own desperation I cease to struggle, feeling myself floating away, it's then that I find the most wonderful freedom in a life lived under His direction.

I may not get to where I was intending to get. Maybe that's the whole point. It wasn't the place for me to begin with. Looking back over my life, I see lots of places I wasn't intending to get. They have been, however, some pretty spectacular places. (Side note to Gerri and other California women who know what I'm talking about..."Holland" has certainly been one of those places of blessing.)

"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)

May I always live and move in His strength instead of my own.