ARE YOU FLYING WITH THE TURKEYS?

This Inevitable Stress

Given the amount of stress in my life, I figure I should be the skinny little thing I was in high school.  I’ve been clinging to that philosophy while the pounds cling to my waistline.   I finally realized the talk show docs and nutritionists were actually referring to me when they say that stress will cause fat to hang on to our bodies!  So over the course of a year, I have been examining my lifestyle and this inevitable thing called stress.  

You and I can’t avoid stress.  It comes in good packages like the holidays, or it comes in dreadful doses of uncontrollable events.  We can control stress with our diet, activity level and time management. But what about managing the stress in our soul?

The Low and Slow Turkey

There are many wild turkeys that strut around our city (yes-real turkeys).  They hang out at the schools and walk around suburban streets.  They crack me up!  One Fall day I was driving down a road when a turkey decided to take flight.  His big ole body lifted into the air while his wings leisurely flapped.  He was flying directly toward my windshield.  I began to panic because he wasn’t gaining height.  As I imagined this humungous wild bird crashing through my windshield, he managed to skim above the hood of my car.  My heart was racing and relieved.  

Fly Above the Stress

My mind’s eye remembers this turkey in sharp contrast to the majestic eagle.  The Scriptures tell us that those who wait on the Lord will mount up with wings like eagles.  I have read that when an eagle senses a storm is coming, it flies to a high spot and waits for the wind to come.  When the storm hits, it spreads its wings and soars above it.  It is not able to escape the storm but instead flies above it.  You and I can’t avoid the storms of life: sickness, disappointment, loss, the daily grind.  But can we actually rise above it?  Isaiah 40:29-31 gives us this promise, “He gives power to the weak.  He increases the strength of him who has no might.  Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; But those who wait for the Lord (who hope in Him, talk with Him, listen to His Words), shall renew their strength and power (be invigorated); they shall lift their wings and mount up as eagles; they shall run and not be weary (they won’t give up), they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” It’s God’s desire for us that we rise above our trials.  He has provided a way for us to prevail over and even conquer the stress in our lives.  

This is my desire as well.  When I cling to the stress, it clings to me.  It becomes a weight that makes me fly low and slow like that turkey.  Instead, I’m choosing to cling to the promises and love of God.  Waiting on Him is a deliberate practice of trusting the God who made me. He then gives me the perspective and tools to mount up as eagles above the storms and stresses of my life.

BONNIE CHRISTENSEN

http://www.WomanGoneWise.com