I took a very short walk yesterday. I put in my headphones, queued up a random playlist, and started walking down my road. The song “Heaven Help Me” by Zach Williams started playing. It was perfect, given all the “stuff” I had swirling around in my head.
“Help me, help me 'Cause I can't walk this road alone And I can't do this on my own….”
I sang, and I prayed… and then I looked up. A bird was flying directly above me. I continued singing.
“Tell me, tell me I just need to hear You say That everything will be okay…”
As I watched it, I heard the Lord say to my heart, “Stop flapping so hard.” At that, the bird stopped flapping its wings and began gliding. The breeze picked up, and the bird actually “flew” much faster while coasting then it did when it was tirelessly flapping it’s wings.
Immediately, I understood what the Lord meant.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Yes, there are times in life when we must work tirelessly. But there are other times when working (flapping) gets us nowhere. Times where it feels like we’re running against the wind and we just can’t seem to move forward.
It’s in those times that the Lord calls us to be still with outstretched arms. To be present, docile, submissive. To simply worship.
It is then that the breeze of the Holy Spirit can do so much more with us. Then, we will cover more ground, and reach new heights.
I continued walking, praying, thinking, singing. And that dang bird actually followed me, gliding. I think as a way to answer my prayer.
“Tell me, tell me I just need to hear You say That everything will be okay…”
He was letting me know, everything really will be ok. That is, if I just quit flapping so hard.