Before the half marathon my sister in law and I were standing there being nervous, waiting near the starting line, when she asked me to pray for us, so I did. But I couldn't ask God for a fast time or even to help us run the whole way, that just seemed too trivial and selfish to ask, so instead I asked Him to teach us something and to be glorified through us. So when the miles got long and I was getting tired I tried to just think on that and continue to ask God to show me something along the way. Two ish miles from the finish line, I was all alone with no other runners anywhere near me, running along the river bank, when I saw a few little birds near the path. They were hopping along doing what birds do when I noticed that one of the birds was a little crooked. She was missing a leg. She had one good leg and a little nub on the other side. My first thought was "How sad.... Poor little bird something tragic must have happen to her! And she obviously has such a hard time keeping up with her friends." She couldn't hop as fast as the other birds and it just struck me as such a misfortune for her.
Then I felt God press on my heart a little.... We are like that little bird. We all have things in our past that have hurt us and scarred us and that threaten to disable us a little (or A LOT). We have trust issues or low self esteem or confused ideas about how love looks or big mistakes that we have made (and sometimes are continuing to make). We have hurts caused by those who should have loved us best or a chip on our shoulder because they didn't believe in us or any number of other deep wounds that have changed us in not good ways. Doubts get the best of us and we are scared to try hard things because we don't know if we are strong enough. We really just don't know if we are enough in any area. We are all limping along in one way or another. We may hate to admit it but life is hard and people aren't always nice and we have all felt the effects of that. Most of us still feel the effects of that. We are limping through life with just one good leg. We may even feel like we can't keep up with all the things life requires of us. And what's worse, we probably secretly compare ourselves to everyone else around us and feel like we can't measure up! But that's not the whole story for that little damaged bird and it's not the whole story for us either.
As I approached the birds they saw me coming and did what birds do.... they flew away. All of them. Even the little legless girl, she took off just as fast and high as the rest of her friends. That nub of a leg had no effect on her flying skills. And I instantly thought "Oo my goodness, I'm so glad that she is a bird, it's a very good thing she has wings!" Her legs were not as important to her as I had first thought when I noticed her. She was still more than able to do what she was made to do. She took off and I quickly could not even tell which one was the hurt bird, she looked perfect in the sky where she belonged, no different than any of the others.
Then God pressed in on my heart a little harder..... We are like that little bird. We all have scars and wounds and things that may never heal just right BUT we, just like that little bird, are meant to fly, not hop along on the ground. Those things that have happened to us or that we chose in our yesterdays do not have to define us, because as God's children we are able to rise above the past and be who we are made to be. This is a broken and messed up world we live in and there is no avoiding heart ache, pain, scars, confusion or mistreatment. Apart from God we would be forced to hop around trying to survive in our broken state. But praise God, sweet friend, that is not the case!! God not only wants to heal us, He wants to redeem us! Psalms 103:2-5 says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." We are meant to fly and God wants to be our wings. And once we are flying with Him those broken things about us won't be so obvious and heavy anymore. We will be able to accomplish what we were made to do even with all the junk the world throws at us. We may never be without scars but we can fulfill our callings well.
So please, please don't hop around on the ground, limping from all the pain and scars of your past anymore! Surrender to the one who made you and let Him teach you how to fly! Life will still be hard and people will still fall short of nice on a regular basis and you are sure to suffer more pain and scars along the way, but through the strength of your Creator you can handle it. You were made to fly after all!
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