“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Some would call it quirks of evolution, but when you believe that God created all things, you have to think that perhaps God smiled as He made some of the little creatures and birds of the air whose designs are so specialized they do certain things that no other creature can do, yet can’t do what other birds or animals do quite easily. Like what? Consider the following:
A buzzard can be placed in a pen two to three meters square, entirely open at the top, and in spite of his ability to spread his powerful wings and soar—perhaps not with the eagles but certainly above the treetops—he can’t get off the ground. Why? A buzzard has to have a running start, he needs three to five meters of runway to get airborne, and without it, the buzzard is imprisoned by only a fence.
Watch the sky in the evening and you are apt to see these little creatures dart and flit among the trees. In the air, they have no rivals—either created or manufactured. They have virtually no competition. But I am told that if a bat is placed on a floor or an absolutely flat surface, it is immobile. All it does is shuffle about helplessly, searching for some flight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air, launch, and take off.
I wouldn’t suggest you try the following, though I admit to have experimented with this one as a boy. Take a bumblebee and drop it into an open jar or glass, and in all probability, it will buzz its wings and wear them out trying to take off, but it can’t. It hits the side of the glass and becomes gets airborne because it can’t see the opening at the top. It has become a prisoner of its own design.
There you have the quirks of design in buzzards, bats, and bees. But is it so different with people? The upward look requires faith, breaking out of the rut, doing something different than just plodding ahead, step after step, and until people are wiser than buzzards, bats, and bees they are often imprisoned by their own gloom and despair.
I’ve been thinking much of the fear and despair which has gripped so many. Fear and how we live and cope with it: it’s become a hot topic. Practically every magazine or newspaper talks about the vast numbers of people who go to their doctors certain that something is terribly wrong with them: their stomach’s knotted, their digestion sideways, their hands clammy and sweaty, and their hearts pounding.
As the people of David’s day made their way to the temple every year, they sang, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
It’s the upward look, focusing on the Lord, that lets you rise above the pen which imprisons you, the jar that restricts you, and the floor which keeps you from soaring above the rubble and ruin below.
Missing in the lives of so many is a connection with God which assures you that you are not alone, you are not abandoned, and you are not surrounded in a prison of despair.
God can be your refuge, your strength, your help! It’s the upward look that will make the difference. “How can I know that God really cares about me?” you may ask. The psalmist answered, “O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8).
So, it’s up to you. Do you need to get airborne on the wings of faith? You can, and your ascent by faith can begin today, even right now as you listen. Remember, it is the upward look that lets you focus on God and take your eyes off fear and the circumstances that depress.
Resource reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13.
