DARK DAYS ARE FOR HIS GLORY!
(by E. H. Maze)
Chapter 6
The
Broken Wing of Your Past
What I have been talking with
you about is that Jesus lived a life that you can emulate. It is not necessary to decide whether you are
like Christ when He was an infant, during his formative years or after the
resurrection. To emulate any of those
times in the life of Christ is sufficient. If you are broken for any reason, or at any stage of your growth, you
can still relate to Him – well, actually, He can relate to you. And how He relates to you is much more
important (and beneficial to you) that how you relate to Him. I came to
know Jesus by His touch on my life, not my touch on His life.
So, having said that, let's
explore brokenness. Is it the
brokenness of your past, or the brokenness of your present that cripples you? Does it matter? Broken is broken, right?
Eli
My wife and
I tell the
story of Eli the Eagle. Eli and his
brother were the only surviving hatchlings left in the nest when it came time
to leave the nest. Unfortunately, his
brother tried to leave too early. One
day, his big brother edged his way over and started to jump from the nest high
atop the tallest pine tree on the highest mountain around. He was convinced that he could fly – he was
ready. He thought that Eli was ready,
also, so he grabbed Eli’s lightly feathered wing with his beak and pulled him
to the outer rim. Eli didn’t want to
fly. He was afraid. His little body was shaking.
Suddenly, he was out of the nest! He was falling way too fast.
Momma Eagle saw both her little babies falling (not flying) so she dove as quickly as possible to retrieve them back into the safety of the nest. But, they were falling too quickly. She reached Eli’s brother first. Her claws snatched him firmly and she swooped upward toward the nest. Tossing the eaglet roughly into the nest, she swooped down to grab Eli only to realize that it was too late. She turned her head to avoid seeing her little Eli hit the forest floor.
Before he hit the ground, Eli had been flapping his wings as hard as he knew how. He seemed to be slowing, but not enough. He hit the forest floor with a thud, landing on his right wing. He knew that it was broken.
Moments later, sure that his Momma would come and swoop him up and take him back to the nest to nurse him back to health, he passed out.
When he woke up, he was alone. Momma was gone. His brother was gone. He somehow knew, as he looked high up into the tree, that Momma would have abandoned the nest. He had heard the stories.
His whole body hurt. He tried to move but it was difficult. He hobbled quickly under a fallen branch when
he realized that he was hearing sounds from the forest that he had never heard
before – at least sounds that he hadn’t heard so closely before.
He was doomed.
He remembered hearing the
stories from the older birds. Birds
can’t survive if they can’t fly, he had heard.
Birds that fall from the nest and hit the ground will never survive,
they had said. The creatures of the
earth will get you before nightfall, they had warned him.
He understood. Momma had to save one of us, he assured himself. She had to make the choice. I am glad my brother is okay, he said to himself. I will get by. But, what about my broken wing, will it ever heal? What if I can never fly? How long will it be until some squirrel, deer, or one of those wild cats devours me for dinner?
Just then, something happened that gave him a little hope. When he had creeped over to a small branch, he managed to lift it a little and it had rolled ever so slightly. It had rolled enough to expose another little creature of the forest – a slimy worm.
Eli had eaten his first meal without his mother’s help.
I guess I will have to do
everything on my own from now on, he concluded.
I guess I will just have to figure out how to survive in this world.
Lying on his left side, because his right wing hurt like crazy, Eli stared at the Harvest Moon that was shining through the trees. Just above the top of the circle of the yellow haze of the moon, he saw two shadows off in the distance, one quite larger than the other, flying southward. A chilly breeze blew over Eli's throbbing wing.
Good night, my Mother and brother. Maybe, one day we will meet again.
How did Eli survive? I want to tell you, that the little dude
outlasted his mother and his brother. He
learned to cope with the forest floor.
He could hide. And, boy, could he
run! He had some of the strangest
friends a bird ever knew. He would ride
on the back of squirrels. Listen, to
this! His best friend was some old alley cat
that had wandered into the woods and couldn’t find his way out. Eli went steady with a cute little yellow
canary that lived in an abandoned beehive.
No one really liked the two of them being together, but Eli and Elaine
they didn’t much care about that.
====================================================
The point is too clear: Survivors learn to survive. The word “survivor,” however, is as misused
(and misunderstood) as the word dysfunctional.
We are all survivors – no one person has a claim to the title. Just as you and I want to claim title to “Mr.
or Mrs. Dysfunction,” we also want to lay claim to “Chief Survivor.” We think we have it worse than anyone else
does and, no matter how often we tell ourselves that “others have it worse, so I
concentrate on others and that makes me humble!” we, in reality, still think we
have it the worst. Admit it!
Being a survivor is the
aftermath of a plan that seems to have turned away from God’s purpose. We fail to see that, perhaps, God’s purpose
can be fulfilled in greater measure through our survival instincts. Having it “too easy” never makes for
greatness. It takes falling from the nest to rise to greatness.
Never forget: You are not a survivor by character; you are
a survivor by circumstances. By
character, you are a king! People admire
the King who rises from the peasantry more than the King who rises from an
unearned inheritance.
Understanding Brokenness in
the Survivor
Has your heart been broken? So was the heart of Jesus. But he was comforted by angels. A broken-heart is not the same as a broken spirit. Don’t let the things that break your heart in this world break your spirit.
Many of us walk the path of
our lives constantly looking behind us expecting a stab in the back; or looking
ahead expecting a full-frontal attack that we can’t defend against; or, looking
to the left and right expecting to be side-swiped.
We are taught to be on the lookout. We are taught to fear. But, we are not to fear. We are to look forward to the day.
According to the Bible, we are surrounded on every side by angels that have been waiting to declare our glory and victory. Listen! Don’t let angels have nothing to do. They don’t come to our aid when we are in fear – living on the edge of doom and gloom. We render them powerless with that attitude. But, when we walk in victory, we are like a king walking down the road with his army at his side, in front and behind. They are rejoicing with the king, but they are also anxiously waiting for an opportunity to do battle on his behalf. That’s how your angels are with you.
Give the guardians
their true place – let your angels have their place in your life by walking and
acting like the victorious king that you are.
Your angels will not be able to help you when you are not living the
resurrected, victorious life.
If you walk in fear, fear
walks with you. When you live in defeat,
defeat is your life.
Your failures were not meant
to afflict you or distract you or ruin you.
The people you failed just want to see you continue to fail (and that
person might just be yourself). They do
not pray for your progress or recovery – in fact, they no longer even believe
in your Christ-likeness. How long have
you believed that lie yourself?
I used to look at all my
personal failures as a sign that my humanness was flawed. No one else was flawed just me. I thought that being flawed meant that I was
a failure. Failure usually brought
feelings of abandonment. We don’t really
believe we have failed unless someone got hurt.
And, every time I failed, trust me, someone got hurt. The problem was that I let those failures and
how people reacted to them redirect me – usually into despair. The deeper into despair I got the happier the
people I hurt were. I finally realized
that sucked. And, I accepted that I
couldn’t help but fail – no matter how hard I tried. And, I couldn’t control how people felt about
me because of those failures. All I
could do was learn how to cope with being a failure. That was a splendid life indeed!
Here is your next miracle: Your Dog Loves You!
God showed me something in His
miraculous and profound way. I was
sitting in the family room, trying to get up and get on with life, weeping
over my last failure and wondering if God would ever have anything to do with
me again, when my dog jumped in my lap and started licking my
hand. You see, most personal "failures" usually affect other
people. And, when you fail people, they tend to change instantly in their
opinion of you. Maybe you were once their hero, but now you are the
villain. Maybe you were a good friend, but now you are some evil
monster. But, thank God for "man's
best friend.” My dog can't remember
that I forgot to feed him. He knows (I am sure of it) that I didn't do it
on purpose.
Now, I look at failure this
way: My dog still loves me! So,
this Monday (following this Sunday experience) is a day to forget your past
(and forget other people's past) and let someone lick your hand. Well,
you know what I mean............
I am just like you (as we are trying to be like Christ): I have learned to stay away from people who get me in trouble. It is, after all, their fault. If I were left alone in the universe, I would never fail. So, I avoid trouble that way. I know who they are, too; the people who get me in trouble. Let’s see if I can list them for you: (you may be one of them, so I hope I’m not about to get myself in trouble again) - Pretty women; Selfish people; Car salesmen; Checkout clerks; and DMV personnel. I get in trouble with; ugly women with sweet personalities; Bosses; Gays; Gay bosses; My child; My wife; Our best friends. I have gotten into trouble with Pregnant women with no one to look after them; co-workers; unknown faces in cars next to me on the freeway. I thought that I got into trouble with my dog once, but actually, I was just in trouble with my wife – the dog forgave me right away. God bless the pooch. Actually, I get into trouble with most women; women’s men; women’s friends – it’s incredible just how much trouble such a harmless person can get into without trying.
My only redeeming quality is that I consider
myself like King David who, through all of his stupidity, was still a man after
God's own heart.
Your Past is Who You Were - Today is Who You Are!
If you can see yourself as a child created in His image then you will be able to live a fulfilled life – able to go beyond the “things” that have hindered or may in the future seek to hinder you. Take a more positive approach to your past by accepting the wonderfulness of your character and personality that has been shaped and formed by God rather than allowing yourself to see yourself as a victim. You are not a victim or a survivor. You are not an adult-child or a child-adult. You are a man or woman of God now. You are a Christ-like being capable of fulfilling His will. Like Christ! Okay, you are not Christ! But, you are like Him.
So, here it is: A friend abandons you - Perhaps, it was your Mother (like Eli the
Eagle). Perhaps, it was your mate. What should you do? How should you respond or react? Here, again, is that amazing similarity to
Jesus that is built-in to each one of us.
Jesus was abandoned by those who called him friend. A person who calls himself your friend may
only be talking. I learned that the hard
way. In fact, I was guilty of it
myself. How desperately I wanted a
friend and how quickly I would claim to have found one. But, it was short-lived. It was built on the sand. Even some friends who had been that for years,
but had never been tested, quickly washed away with the aftermath of even the
smallest storm. Friendship is tested in the
storm (and the fire). When our test came, we
all failed.
Thankfully, there is a friend in
me! The friend in me is God. Yes, and He is more than a friend! He
calls me a friend, trusts me with all of His possessions and tells me to get
back out there and do it again. If I fail again (and I will), He will
still be my friend. And, He will send me back out there again.
Praise God! In the midst of my enemies, He prepares a table for me.
Actually, He prepares the table for my enemies - they just don't get to eat from
the table. He is righteous like that!
The
fact that you are a survivor qualifies you to attest to the many miracles that
the Lord has already done for you. Here
is the best place to “count your blessings” as miracles. You have never claimed or given God all the
glory for the miracles he has done in your life – you have been too busy
looking for new ones. I don’t really
care how trite it might sound:
“YOU” are a miracle!
He
still has other miracles for you. I have said
many times that “your past doesn’t want to be your friend.” But,
the same is not true of your future. You haven’t met your new best friend,
yet. “Tomorrow” is a friend you have not
yet met, so you don’t know whether you will like it or not. But, I can assure you of this: Tomorrow’s friend could be your enemy if you
drag your past into the future with you because your past and your future won’t
get along very well – they will not be agreement. Your happiness tomorrow cannot be guaranteed
by today’s actions, but it’s a better plan than letting your past continue to
guide you. Isn’t it?
Look
around you. When a bird builds a nest,
from the ground the nest looks like a mess.
To the human eye (from a distance) the nest appears just thrown
together. But, at closer glance you can
see a rather remarkable intricacy to the design – by a creature that only has a
small beak to build with.
Stop
looking at the mess and look at the nest.
See what God has provided!
Remember, you are the baby bird – God designed the nest that you are
growing up in. You might see it as a
mess because you have messed up your life so many times, but God has been
watching over you constantly. To Him,
you have been simply maturing (messes come with baby birds and baby humans) for
the sole purpose of growing your
wings and preparing to fly.
Here
comes that gentle breeze – walk on out to the edge and start flapping, it is
your time to fly.
end of Chapter (click here to go to Chapter 7)- if link is not active, the chapter is not yet ready. Check back later, please.
Please let me know if you have read (and enjoyed) this chapter by sending me a quick email to: ehylandmaze@aol.com
bless you.....................................Eugene H. Maze
This chapter and all chapters related to this website book entitled "Dark Days" (copyright 2004) was written and published by Eugene H. Maze. No portion of this book may be copied, sold or distributed either by electronic or other means in any fashion whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author. Permission for distribution may be obtained by contacting the author at ehylandmaze@aol.com. Links to this and all previous and subsequent pages of this book entitled "Dark Days" may be distributed freely without permission.