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Raptors are lazy–or at least they appear so.

Raptors are large birds like hawks, falcons, vultures, eagles, and other birds of prey. They soar high in the sky, gliding in wide circles with little wing movement. We might think they should be looking for food instead of lazily floating with outspread wings. In fact, they are actually looking for their next meal. Their languid flying is how they do it.

Isaiah used the image of high-flying raptors when he described how “those who hope in the Lord” would soar “or mount up with wings like eagles” as they rise up to serve God. An interesting image. Just as raptors use a natural phenomenon called thermals to soar, so we use a spiritual thermal to do the same.

Thermals are heated updrafts of air, created when sun-heated air near the ground rises in a column and then dissipates as it cools. Raptors use these rising air columns to give them the added lift they need to soar and get a wide view of the earth below so they can spot their prey and then swoop down with outstretched talons.

And divine thermals for us? God’s supporting promises give us lift as we face adversity. When I struggle with an insolvable adversity, I often flounder in gloom and depression, desperate for a way out. As I gradually realize the futility of such misery, I also know God has provided the remedy: His unchanging promises that are mine to claim and seize. Once I add my faith, I can soar above the difficulty with a new perspective, seeing God’s solution and receiving His strength to work with it.

So are raptors lazy? No. They just know to use God’s provision to get what they need. Have you learned that lesson?  

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)