“How
are you doing?” 'Okay, under the circumstances!' Do you live under
the circumstances? We are not supposed to, we are destined to live
above them, to rise above the storm and to even “soar like the
eagle” (Isaiah 40:31). Now an eagle cannot soar if it does not
get off the ground, and in order to get off the ground there needs to
be a lot of flapping. However once it gets off the ground it can soar
on thermals, on the updrafts. Updrafts are common in the midst of a
storm, and eagles have been found as high as 10,000 feet and even
higher! In British slang to flap is to behave in a nervous and
overexcited way. And it seems to me that our learning to soar in the
spirit will likely start out with a lot of flapping.
To
mix metaphors for a minute, we don’t learn to sail on a calm sea.
And when in the midst of the storm, when the waves “mount up to
heaven,” sailors “cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He
brings them out of their distresses” and “calms the storm”
(Psalm 107:26, 28, 29). When we cry out to the Lord in our distress
the Lord calms us too. And He starts by asking “Have you not known
…. it is He who sits above the circle of the earth” (Isiah 40:21,
22). And He reminds us that we are seated with Christ in heavenly
places (Ephesians 2:6), that is far above the storm.
These
things are not intended to just be nice comforting words, they are
intended to be a reality in which we stand, and having done all to
stand (Ephesians 6:1313). Yes we start off by flapping, and we may be
there a long time. But as we learn to be still and know that He is
God (Psalm 46:10), we will indeed soar like the eagle above the
storm. As I keep saying, these things are crossroads. We can
choose again and again to believe the perspective of heaven. We can
pray “I believe help my unbelief.” We can choose to believe that
He is working even in this for our good (Romans 8:28). The eagle, if
it is going to soar, needs to lock its wings and we need to lock the
wings of our faith, and come to the Lord in the midst of our
flapping, take on His yoke, learn of Him and receive the rest for
our souls that He so longingly wants to give us (Matthew 11:28, 29).
Father,
learning to fly for the young eagle is somewhat traumatic, as it is
dropped over and over from great heights. But at the last minute they
are born up in eagle’s wings (Exodus 19:4). And when we fall (and
it is when, when we are learning, not if), we know that underneath
are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27). And Lord I pray for
all reading this blog this morning who are still in the place where
they feel they are being dropped over and over, that You will give a
double portion of Your Grace to be still and know that You are God,
and to know that You have their back. As I said last day Lord the
“shall” in the title indicates surety. After all Lord, You are
the best teacher in the universe, in Jesus Name Amen
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