Swirling to Higher Ground

Scriptures: You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself. (Exodus 19:4)

The other night, as I was in the airport waiting for a flight for my business trip, I saw a father and a daughter came out of the boarding gate. Apparently, they had just got off the airplane. It was about 11 pm and the little girl looked very tired.

She stood before her dad, with her arms reaching out to him, and demanded that she be carried in his arms. The father looked at the little girl and gently asked her to wait for just a minute. He put on his jacket, put his backpack on his back, carried his laptop bag on his shoulder and picked up his daughter’s little backpack. Then, he gently picked her up and held her in his arms. I saw her put her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. I supposed she fell asleep in her dad’s arms very quickly.

I thought to myself, “What a loving father! What a beautiful picture of his love for his beautiful daughter!” Then, I remembered this verse in the book of Exodus where God reminded the Israeli people how He had stepped into their sufferings and delivered them out of slavery, how He carried them as though they were carried by eagle’s wings to Himself.

This reminder came, after they had quarreled with Moses in Rephidim for water, when they had come to the Mount Sinai. They had just left Egypt, the land of slavery, for 3 months. But, they had already forgotten all about the sufferings they had in Egypt. All that they could remember was there was water for them in Egypt. How short was their memory that they had forgotten all the miracles God had performed during those 3 months. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

But, let’s not be too critical of them for we sometimes do the same, don’t we? There’s so much going on in our lives, church ministries, office work, birthdays, anniversaries, business schedules, medical appointments, children’s extra-curricular activities, community services, and the list goes on. But, our days remain 24 hours a day, not one second longer. We wonder how we can keep up with all these demands and, at the same time, wonder why we have become so impatient, temperamental, and easily frustrated.

There is no question that the demand for our time and attention is great. The question is how we deal with it. Our scripture today offers 2 comforting promises from God: 1) He sees us in our circumstances and He comes to our rescue. He knows us because He is our Creator. He knows how we feel when we are hurt, overloaded, frustrated, put down, and forgotten. As much as we, sometimes, want to believe that no one knows what we’ve been though, God actually knows what we’ve been through and, more than that, our hurts hurt Him too. We are not alone in all our miseries. He had come alongside and has been through every ups and downs in our lives with us.

2) More than coming alongside, He wants to carry us to Himself. He wants to hold us in His arms, close to His heart and to embrace us in His love. He desires to take the heavy load off us so we may rest in Him; He desires to take us to higher place so we may see beyond human understanding what He has in store for us heavenward; and He desires to take us alongside Him so we may enjoy the fellowship and the freedom in truth, eternal and glorious!

You see, this is our God, our heavenly Father who desires nothing but the best for us for eternity. But, what must we do to enjoy these wonderful promises? Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

Yes, come to Jesus and learn from Jesus are the two things we need to enjoy this reviving power of our Lord God. Just like that little girl who, when tired, came to her father and asked for his support, we too need to learn to come to our Lord and stay still before Him for His uplifting arms and strength. His presence is always in our midst, but we need to know to come to Him. His grace is always more than sufficient for us, but we need to know to ask and wait until we realize we are already in His arms. Then, and only then, we can rest in His arms, like that little girl in her father’s arms!

Don’t worry about the time you may lose because it is spent with the Lord. You will be amazed by the power of the Lord that refreshes your soul and by the productivity gain of a life recharged by our Lord!

Prayer Requests:
For those weary from their daily chores and never ending responsibilities

Prayer:
Our loving Father, thank You for never taking your eyes off us who constantly lose sight of Your presence in our lives. Help us to learn to be still before You so we may be charged with heavenly power to do Your will in this dark and needy generation. Help us to learn from our Lord Jesus so we may be strong and not weary in our daily walk with You. In the precious name of our Lord Jesus we pray, Amen!