Osprey

Flying- Running and Walking

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

But they 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. Isaiah 40:31 ESV

In light of the despair many of us are feeling from the two recent senseless mass shootings, I simply share this familiar verse. Though we have heard it thousands of times, the amazing thing is that God’s Word always has something fresh for our daily lives. The first time I came upon this verse I loved the idea of soaring like an eagle. I had spent half my life packing boxes and moving to another new neighborhood where I had to make friends and register for another school, but rather than feeling free, it felt more like life in a glass cage. Everyone knew who I was – the new kid- But I had no idea if they would like me, ignore me or pick a fight. Soaring like an eagle in my newly found faith in Jesus seemed wonderful. With Him I could leave behind the old reality of never belonging anywhere and fly with Him to a new life.

Photo by David Dibert on Pexels.com

But something strange happened with my flight plan. One day as I was soaring nicely along, out of the blue a lightning bolt struck and burned off all my feathers and I fell to the ground. But once the shock of the crash wore off, I discovered that even though that I couldn’t fly any more, Jesus was still with me! Instead of a flight plan, I found myself on a racetrack where I began to run the race of faith. Up hills and down through steep dark valleys, I found that running wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Then one day, I woke to find that my knees ached, my hips hurt, and I could only manage a slow walk. As discouragement began to set in, the Lord came, inviting me to lean on His shoulders, and reminding me that He also struggled up the path that the Father had chosen for Him. Then as we walked along together, I remembered that He also was often the new kid in town, He too had wept at the grave of a friend and understood better than I what it meant to be alone. Today I am not flying well, nor even running my race quickly, but through all that has happened I am more than ever walking slowly but surely with my Lord!

If you have had a crash and burn landing or two in your life don’t give in to despair. If you do not have the strength to run another mile, be encouraged, Jesus will walk the second mile with you. May the Lord strengthen and bless you today and keep you today as you lean on His shoulder and walk another day with Him!

Who Me?

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” Matthew 14:28-29a

The Osprey are a large fish-eating raptor which is not exactly either an eagle op1030165r a hawk. One thing that seems unique is their habit of building a large nest and then continuing to add to that nest year after year. They like to make their nest where they can see in every direction such as a dead tree or a utility pole. Sometimes the nest gets so heavy that it can cause the tree top to break and on utility poles they can cause a power outage.

Some of us Christians are a lot like our Osprey friends. We like our big safe nest and don’t venture out unless we are sure the coast is clear. The disciples were no exception. They peered out over the edge of the boat in terror as they saw the form of a man walking out on the waves that night. When Jesus called out for them to not be afraid they really weren’t convinced at all! But Peter came up with an idea that was totally crazy. He called out to the person on the waves, “If that is really you then tell me to come!” See Peter was no longer satisfied just peering over the edge of his nest. He was ready to go anywhere if Jesus called him to go. He may have said the wrong thing at times but his faith urged him to take a risk, to dare everything on the word of Jesus Christ.

Is Jesus calling you to step out of your boat today? We can stay in the nest of safety or we can walk on water to go to Jesus. The choice is yours and mine!