Walk till you soar

 The bible teaches us that as Christians we will have difficult times and there will be evil days.

Psalm 49:5-6 NIV

 Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me.

As king David experienced at the time he wrote in
Psalm 23 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death, I will fear no evil”.. At this point in lives in our valley of the shadows, we experience hardship, confusion and frustration with almost everything we do even in our walk with God, where it seems as if we lack the things that make our hearts glad and content, we have to keep walking. We need to walk till we climb out of the valley.

To walk means to be still, to stay calm, to persevere and to wait on God. You wait for Him to move and then you follow as He demonstrated with the people of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land in Exodus 13:21-22.

Christians who have been at this stage before will recount how difficult this stage may have been. The countless number of times they failed trying to climb out of their valley. They remember the difficulties, hardships and times they were buried in so much guilt because they felt inadequate.

We remember all our past defeats and tend to magnify ours above every other person’s as if Christ didn’t go through the worst form of persecution and shame. Not that it’s wrong to talk about our failures or mistakes as sometimes this reminds us of how far God has brought us and to encourage others  to hold on. The problem is that, focusing on your past failures robs you of the joy of your present victories. It takes your mind of the fact that Christ walked with you through it all and you were given enough grace to go through.

Because of this, when we have climbed out of our valley of shadows to the mountain top, we feel like we have seen and been through it all. But our journey doesn’t end there. We forget that we are likened to eagles. For the bible says in

Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles… 

  A few facts about eagles:

With its powerful and graceful wings this large bird is a powerful bird of prey and a symbol of courage, might and transcendence. 

To conserve energy they flap their wings as little as possible. They rather glide on thermal currents lifting them up high into the skies above most birds.

Eagles have excellent vision.

 

Eagles spend most of their lifetime on the highest mountain and tree tops and seldom descend unto the ground except to hunt.

So like the eagle, after you have climbed out of your valley of the shadow of pain, rejection, struggles, confusion, uncertainties, hardship, depression, failure, low self esteem, sickness, hopelessness, poverty and death, now you have to spread your wings, hop off the ground and soar. But most of us don’t. After going through all the former challenges, we feel exhausted and drained and don’t think we have the energy for lift off. forgetting that the bible says in

Nehemiah 8:10 “… do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.

  It is not our strength but the strength of Jesus that would carry us through. Most Christians get stuck at this stage. You have gained your salvation, walked through the valley of the shadows of trials and affliction. You have tasted victory, but now you fail to march on, to climb up and flap those wings tirelessly? NO, stretch those broad powerful wings, align your strong talons with feet that have walked through fire, journeyed on thorny paths, feet that show scars of bruises suffered and now healed, with eyes opened to a new vision, gaze into the skies, the heavens where you’ve always belonged, take a leap and soar.

Instead with time, we allow the pleasures of life and the pressure of self and society to dominate us. Even though we have been translated from darkness into light, we are transformed into something maybe great, but truly less than what we ought to be. We become low flying birds. Yes beautiful but still low flying; some robins, kingfishers, doves, pigeon’s etc. birds that expend all their energy in flapping their wings during flight just to move from one level to another. No matter the amount of effort you invest in yourself, you are unable to reach your destined height because it’s all SELF. You might fulfill everyone’s expectation of you, even your own self expectations but deep down in you there is a feeling of discontent and inadequacy robbing you of the peace attached to your life’s purpose. And from this low height, you are unable to see the beauty of all things around you even the tests you go through. Unlike the eagle which whiles riding effortlessly on high altitude winds with its excellent vision is able to see clearly and appreciate the beauty of the land below. And when you are up there where you belong, it doesn’t matter what circumstances you find yourself in, you’ll always see something to be grateful to God for.

God bless.