Fly
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I’m sitting here watching the waves hit the shore, watching the sunrise clothe the clouds with various color hues of light pinks, blues and purples. My mind goes to that famous story of Jesus walking on the water and I am amazed that he was able to do this and that his companion Peter was also able to have enough faith when looking into his Master’s eyes to step out of the boat...
All of a sudden I see a swarm of seagulls gathering about over the water. They are so beautiful, flapping their wings. They almost look like they are swarming in a figure 8 pattern. I’m enjoying the beauty of it and thanking my Heavenly Father for this beautiful morning when my thought begins to wonder, why they are flying this way? I look around and realize there is something in the ocean down below that they seemed to be concerned about. Is it a fish? A shark? I realize that there is a fisherman nearby on the shore reeling whatever this thing is in towards the shore. As the line gets closer to the shore I can see that he has captured a seagull with his hook. As the seagull comes to shore unwillingly, the other seagulls quickly dissipated and went their own ways. As I sat there as a spectator in this horrific scene I couldn’t help but begin to feel sorrow for this seagull. I could barely watch the incident unfold before my eyes. I would look at the poor seagull trying frantically to save his life by flapping his wings and nipping at the fisherman who was hurriedly trying to free the seagull and then I would look away and pray, “Dear God, please help them free this seagull!! Please Lord, do not allow me to sit here and watch it die.” I would look back hoping that it had been freed but to no avail.
A woman sitting by, which I assume was the fisherman’s wife, got up out of her chair and tried to assist the fisherman in freeing this distressed seagull. She also had no luck. I continued to look away and pray. I almost decided to not look back again at this horrific scene but I had to look just one more time.
When I slowly turned my head to see what was going on I noticed that another man was standing with the fisherman. I saw him take the fishing line in one hand and then gently lift the hook out of the seagull. The seagull didn’t drop to the ground, the seagull with a new found reason to fly, took off into the beautiful blue sky flapping its wings majestically!!!
Hallelujah, praise the Lord, it is free, it has been freed, it can flap its wings and fly. I was worried when I saw it become unhooked that it would not be unable to take flight again. But it was able to fly. I was so immersed in this seemingly small seagulls life that when it was able to take flight, I sobbed and said, “Thank you Father so much for rescuing this seagull!”
I now ponder why this story has been with me since. I somehow understand that I see myself in the characters of this story and you may see yourself too. First of all I’m the fisherman. I’m just standing on the shore of this life. I’m casting my line out into this world hoping I will catch something that I can be proud of or something that will feed me.
I am also the fisherman’s wife. I’m chilling on the sand watching the waves and the sunrise, resting, doing my own thing until I know I’m needed. Then despite my best efforts and intentions I’m not enough. I don’t have what it takes to rescue those who need rescuing.
I think most of all, I am the seagull. I was trying to find some something to satisfy my hunger and I got hooked. I become fearful as I’ve lost my bearings, lost my ability to fly. And now I am dependent upon others to help me become free. In my attempt to be free again I become frantic and I fight and bite at anything or anyone trying to help me.
But wait, there was yet another person in this story. The man who came in at the last minute and was able to hook the seagull so that it could fly again, unharmed.
The man has to represent God. He knows exactly what to do to free us. Did he send Jesus to unhook you from your sin? Did he send the Holy Spirit to remind you that you’ve already been freed? I don’t know what God has to do to free you but he knows and he will use any means possible to unhook you so that you can continue to fly! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen!!
Living Loved, Freely and Dancing into my Divine Design,
Elizabeth
I’m sitting here watching the waves hit the shore, watching the sunrise clothe the clouds with various color hues of light pinks, blues and purples. My mind goes to that famous story of Jesus walking on the water and I am amazed that he was able to do this and that his companion Peter was also able to have enough faith when looking into his Master’s eyes to step out of the boat...
All of a sudden I see a swarm of seagulls gathering about over the water. They are so beautiful, flapping their wings. They almost look like they are swarming in a figure 8 pattern. I’m enjoying the beauty of it and thanking my Heavenly Father for this beautiful morning when my thought begins to wonder, why they are flying this way? I look around and realize there is something in the ocean down below that they seemed to be concerned about. Is it a fish? A shark? I realize that there is a fisherman nearby on the shore reeling whatever this thing is in towards the shore. As the line gets closer to the shore I can see that he has captured a seagull with his hook. As the seagull comes to shore unwillingly, the other seagulls quickly dissipated and went their own ways. As I sat there as a spectator in this horrific scene I couldn’t help but begin to feel sorrow for this seagull. I could barely watch the incident unfold before my eyes. I would look at the poor seagull trying frantically to save his life by flapping his wings and nipping at the fisherman who was hurriedly trying to free the seagull and then I would look away and pray, “Dear God, please help them free this seagull!! Please Lord, do not allow me to sit here and watch it die.” I would look back hoping that it had been freed but to no avail.
A woman sitting by, which I assume was the fisherman’s wife, got up out of her chair and tried to assist the fisherman in freeing this distressed seagull. She also had no luck. I continued to look away and pray. I almost decided to not look back again at this horrific scene but I had to look just one more time.
When I slowly turned my head to see what was going on I noticed that another man was standing with the fisherman. I saw him take the fishing line in one hand and then gently lift the hook out of the seagull. The seagull didn’t drop to the ground, the seagull with a new found reason to fly, took off into the beautiful blue sky flapping its wings majestically!!!
Hallelujah, praise the Lord, it is free, it has been freed, it can flap its wings and fly. I was worried when I saw it become unhooked that it would not be unable to take flight again. But it was able to fly. I was so immersed in this seemingly small seagulls life that when it was able to take flight, I sobbed and said, “Thank you Father so much for rescuing this seagull!”
I now ponder why this story has been with me since. I somehow understand that I see myself in the characters of this story and you may see yourself too. First of all I’m the fisherman. I’m just standing on the shore of this life. I’m casting my line out into this world hoping I will catch something that I can be proud of or something that will feed me.
I am also the fisherman’s wife. I’m chilling on the sand watching the waves and the sunrise, resting, doing my own thing until I know I’m needed. Then despite my best efforts and intentions I’m not enough. I don’t have what it takes to rescue those who need rescuing.
I think most of all, I am the seagull. I was trying to find some something to satisfy my hunger and I got hooked. I become fearful as I’ve lost my bearings, lost my ability to fly. And now I am dependent upon others to help me become free. In my attempt to be free again I become frantic and I fight and bite at anything or anyone trying to help me.
But wait, there was yet another person in this story. The man who came in at the last minute and was able to hook the seagull so that it could fly again, unharmed.
The man has to represent God. He knows exactly what to do to free us. Did he send Jesus to unhook you from your sin? Did he send the Holy Spirit to remind you that you’ve already been freed? I don’t know what God has to do to free you but he knows and he will use any means possible to unhook you so that you can continue to fly! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen!!
Living Loved, Freely and Dancing into my Divine Design,
Elizabeth
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