We Find New Strength

Good morning…

A few days ago I posted Prayer Is Free Time With God, writing: “A momma bird and her young one capture my attention. Her wide wings fly beneath, guiding, guarding, giving confident trust. The individuating creature flaps a unique set of wings. I sense: ‘No one can fly for us, we must engage our whole self.'”

“You fully captured the essence of the nurturing mother bird modeling flight for her young,” replies a subscriber. “As much as we protect and guide our children, steering them to God and encouraging a defining faith, I am reminded that ‘God has no grandchildren.’ We cannot receive God on the wings of our Godly parents or mentors. Each of us must come to God on our own, unique, ‘individuated’ journeys. Indeed, ‘No one can fly for us, we must engage our whole self.’ We cannot be grandfathered in as a child of God. We each are responsible and accountable for our own flight as we approach the divine.”

Then yesterday morning we learned together God Transforms Us Inside Out: “Instead of focusing mainly on external behaviors – praying enough, reading Scripture enough, trying to be nice – we need to let the Spirit work in our inner being first and let outward actions flow from that.” When we focus our best efforts on perfectly flapping our wings of faith or forcefully flapping the wings of our loved ones, we lose awareness that our Creator is the One carrying each of us. It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:13). The Word of God is at work in you who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Entrusting our true selves and our loved ones to our God with the big-wide wings, we whisper: “In the innermost being…You will make me know your wisdom” (Psalm 51:6, emphasis added). Only God, not your hard work ethic or your faithful loved ones, can strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16). Each given by God the instinct to fly, over time our external behaviors conform organically to Christ’s life as we become individuated creatures effortlessly soaring on our unique set of wings.