Do you and God have any little short hand messages?  Something you see in the world that is an instant reminder of God’s love and grace in your life? For some people its rainbows or feathers or a pretty sunrise. For me it is hawks. I know you are asking how a bird of prey reminds me of grace. Let me explain. We live in an area where there are a multitude of hawks. I see them perched on neighbors rooftops and  swooping down in the field near our highway hunting rats and snakes (Go Hawks!). But the most common sight I see is them soaring up in the sky. See that is the thing about hawks. They don’t go around flapping their feathers all the time like other birds. Not like the jays in my backyard that are always beating their wings and defending their territory. Or even the hummingbirds that flap at blindingly fast speeds as they drink our sugar water. No hawks fly different. They just make a few big beats of their ample wings and then they are up in the wind currents that blow over our land. They get up in that stream of air and then they stretch their wings out full and far and SOAR. So quietly, so peacefully, almost effortlessly. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1215"] photo credit Richard Graves http://rgravesphotography.blogspot.com/[/caption]   They have learned to fly by riding the wind instead of working and striving through their own efforts. And that is exactly how Hawks speak to me of grace.  

They remind me to stop flapping my wings all the time and just ride the current God is blowing in my life.

 

They remind me to stop all my striving and soar.

  But of course this is harder than it sounds. Because in order to do this, you have to trust that the wind will hold you. You have to trust that your wings are big enough and sturdy enough to catch the current. You have to believe if you stop flapping your wings you won’t automatically plummet to the ground. So I am grateful for the abundance of hawks in my life, just like the abundance of grace. I watch them every day. Big hawks, little hawks. Young hawks, old hawks. Even hawks with feathers missing from their wings. They all fly beautifully. For it is more about the wind current than the bird. The bird just has to learn to drop into the wind. So today, I wish for you the grace to stop flapping and striving and to rest into the current of grace God is blowing your way. Isaiah 40:31

But those that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

 ]]>