Last evening while I was finishing up the dinner dishes, my hubby sat down at the dining room table with my kiddos – with one of his favorite books and a stack of plain white paper.
Airplanes. paper airplanes. They started looking at a page, with just the right design, examining the folds, reading and following the directions, preparing for the outdoors. Carefully they created. In the meantime, Michael was explaining how it would work. To them, this was serious fun. To me, it was learning in progress.
The plan: 1. make stellar, sky-worthy planes. 2. fly them from the deck of the shop out back. 3. gather planes from the yard. 4. repeat.
Out the back door, down the steps they scrambled, across the yard, and up the steps of Michael’s workshop, ready for aviation success.
Now, it was quite a breezy evening down in our part of the valley. and I had a feeling things may go differently than they planned. Who doesn’t know that a tiny piece of white paper sailing across the sky has no control over the winds from Heaven? And, you certainly can’t sail against them. Their only option: surrender.
I grabbed my camera, and caught the project in action. And even as I snapped shots of these little planes being whisked wherever the swirls of breeze wished, I had a few thoughts.
I’ve been spending a few weeks now, the feeble little piece of human being that I am, trying to gain control of the winds that are altering my life’s path. I’ve thrashed against the winds blowing, trying to make things different, even though they are completely out of my control.
As uncomfortable as it is, I’m reminded of these words from Job 23: 9-10.
When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
What is necessary for me? total surrender.
The same God, who is in control of the winds, has set His flight plan for me. and I need to set my course to blow peacefully along those currents, rather than trying to fly against them. Though I can’t seem Him, I can trust His way. Surely, I should know this by now, shouldn’t I?
Just like those little white paper airplanes working overtime against the breezes in our backyard last night, all that flapping I’ve been doing is meaningless.
daily portion 