I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:14
“I Quit.” I could almost hear the words coming from his beak. Yesterday was “walk in the park day” and the ducks and geese were doing their thing. If you haven’t made a trip to the park to just watch the geese and ducks you really should. It is so interesting to see how they interact with one another. There are a couple of stories at gritswithgrace.com if you would like to go back and read them.
Yesterday I was in lap two of three and I saw something that really caught my attention and captured my heart. You probably know that geese like to hang together. They will be “gaggling” together and suddenly, it is as if someone, the gaggle leader will give a nod or a honk and everyone will burst into flight. They rise from the ground or the water as one, like a flight of aircraft from a military flight. They quickly take formation and off they go into the wild blue yonder.
As I was walking across the stone bridge at the park the order was given and about seven geese took off. I was pretty close and it was pretty impressive. With a flush of honking and flapping, they rose into the sky as one. Goose One, the flight leader carefully led the group over the bridge and down to the far end of the pond. They took off as one and they flew as one all except…one.
As they flew by at full power I happened to notice one of the group still on the ground. He was a young adult goose but definitely old enough to take to the air. His body was well groomed, every feather in place. From where I stood he looked like he could…he should be airworthy. But as his friends took flight…he took a look around. There they went and there he sat. It was what happened next that was so unusual. He suddenly started to run. Paralleling the edge of the pond he started running as fast as his little legs would carry him. It seemed he was sayings, “Hey guys, wait for me.”
He ran for about fifteen yards and then he stopped and went down the bank into the water, paddling furiously, heading for where he thought his friends and family had gone. The last time I saw him he was still paddling away shouting, “Hey, wait for me.” After getting over the amusement of watching him waddle and paddle, my heart was captured. I found myself asking the obvious question, “Why?”
Why waddle when you can soar? Why paddle when you can fly? Why get left behind when you could be in the middle of the party? I am not an expert in goose anatomy but he had all the equipment to fly and all the equipment seemed to be working. I really don’t know, but it seemed I heard him muttering as he waddled with all his might. Although I’m not fluent in goose, it seemed he was saying, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.” And then, right before he went into the water he said, “I quit.” How sad.
He was made to fly. He was made to soar, but he chose, he settled, for waddling and paddling. He chose for second best. You see, you can be the best waddler in the world and that is fine…unless you were made to soar. The view from the ground is never as magnificent as the view from the sky. If his equipment was broken, if it was just a matter of a few more flight lessons well, that would be a different story. But what if it was just a matter of not believing—in himself and the One who made him?
If you look around, and maybe as close as the bathroom mirror, you might see someone who stopping believing. You might see someone who has tried and failed enough that they no longer believe anything is possible. You might see someone who stopped believing that God makes masterpieces and started believing that God made a mess. Well, let me tell you something. God doesn’t make junk and He doesn’t make messes. The Psalmist said it right, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Fearfully and wonderfully made. That is you and that is me. If you find yourself on the shore, waddling when you designed to soar…start believing again. Start believing in you, start believing in Him and start believing that with Him…all things are possible. Don’t let the circumstances around you right now—the division, the virus, the uncertainty keep you on the ground. You were made to fly, to soar! Why not crawl up into the lap of your Dearest Father, rest in Him and just believe? Believe the truth…that He’s got this.
Grits with Grace 