Aviation of a Bird

Last Sunday, as I walked to CDS, the campus was quiet and the walkways were empty. So I had some sort of a quiet time with God. Almost instantly, He spoke to me and brought my sight up to the sky.

Scorching as the sun was, I somehow managed an awesome, peaceful sight. He showed me a huge bird with its wings spread out, flying above me. Its confidence and grace dominated the scene with the beauty of its strong wings. Even as it glided in the air above me, I noticed a little bird the size of an eighth the bird. The little bird was flapping its wings as it followed the bird that glided seemingly so easily before it.

And a whisper came into my mind as God spoke to me, “What can you learn from this scene?”

The baby bird follows the huge bird and does not question, staying closely, not knowing where the bird may be taking it. But all it knows is that it is learning to fly, and the only way not to fall, is to speed up and follow its teacher – the huge bird.

Many times, we doubt and question our faith. The moment that happens, our ‘wings’ stop flapping for the moment. Although we do not physically fall, we do spiritually. Our walk with God has always been depicted as a graph with a net increase. But a closer look would show a couple of valleys amidst the curve (red). Of course, the best deal is not to fall. Falling and not picking ourselves up is like losing touch with our Leader, Jesus, and may even cause us to lose sight of Him. With that lost in connection, people often stray away and fall in spiritual dryness (blue).

So we have to constantly keep ourselves in check, and spend quiet time with God, speak to our shepherds and encourage our brothers and sisters. Being a new Christian, I have found that constant support from brothers and sisters, and my shepherd and group leaders have played a great role in my spiritual growth. Especially during the times I have fell, they picked me up so quickly that I could carry on the journey.

Temptations and trials we are put through often wavers our faith. But whenever that happens, look back at our leader, Jesus Christ, and lean on him to build our faith once again. Lean on the great people that he has put around you to help you too, in this journey.

The flight of the baby bird is just like our spiritual Journey. When we put full faith in Him and trust that wherever He is taking us is for our good, despite the trials that we face, we will be brought to great places. He will bring us to see things even greater than the wonders of the world. And tested and proven for myself, I have learnt that all we need is that faith and an optimistic attitude towards the trials we are set against. If we follow Christ undoubting, and with unwavering faith, imagine how much greatness there is in hold for us.

So let us be like the little bird today, tomorrow and the days ahead as we walk this Journey. Let us follow our leader, Jesus Christ, trusting him with all we have, for it is said in the Bible in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Romans 1:17 says, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”