There is something stirring about watching geese fly in perfect V-formation across the sky. Their flying south for the winter is poetry in motion. It is who God created them to be. It looks effortless, but for them it is a lot of work.
I am not sure if this is a phenomenon just in the southeastern United States or if others experience this, but in our area many retail or office parking lots have become home for a flock of Canada geese. I am sure it started off innocently enough. A flock of geese on their natural migration route got a little weary, so they decided to take a break in a parking lot. At first they grazed on the grass in the medians, and then they discovered random food that someone dropped. Soon the parking lot becomes more and more appealing. Why spend all that time flying back and forth when we can make a pretty good life right here? Sure, we will miss out on flying across the bright blue skies, in rhythm with our Creator, but we’ve got French fries!
I was in my car and watched in amazement as Canada geese stopped traffic as they took their leisurely time walking in front of me. They were completely unfazed. I wondered how long it took them to get d-sensitized to the large metal objects on wheels that could crush them. Did they used to run scared? When did walking across a parking lot become normal? As the goose parade continued, I noticed at the very back of the line a baby goose doing its best to keep in step with the others. Unbelievable. This baby goose was born in a parking lot because these adult geese aren’t flying like they are designed to. So this baby is growing up thinking a parking lot is the natural habitat for a goose!
Just as condemnation of the geese began to swell in my heart, God gently tapped me on the shoulder.
“Don’t you do the same thing when you choose to live from your soul because living in your spirit is too much work and discipline? Don’t you have days where you choose French fries in the parking lot over my beautiful design for you? When you choose to live in your soul instead of soaring in your spirit, it impacts not only you but others. How many baby geese are following you in your earthbound parking lot?”
All of a sudden, my bird-watching was getting a little too convicting. We all have situations when our soul is dominant. It will happen because none of us reaches complete maturity this side of heaven. But where have we become so comfortable that it feels normal to live in less of who God made us? What are those familiar places or relationships that cause us to so easily slip into old patterns without even realizing that we have stopped soaring and we are now waddling on asphalt?
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Father, forgive me for being satisfied with anything less than the fullness of what you designed for me this day spirit, soul, and body. Show me the areas where I have settled for the familiarity of “less than.” I choose to fly to higher heights. By your grace, I will soar in your magnificent design of me.
by Elizabeth Gunter
used by permission