Return of the Eagles

No doubt you have seen those pictures online where you are asked whether you see THIS or THAT? And depending on how you look at it determines what type of person you are, so they SAY...

I don't put any stock in such things to tell me who I am. But I do want to ask you, what do you see in the picture of the eagle above? Is he falling?

Or could he be diving toward a venomous snake he saw from his vantage point far up in the sky, and now he is about to swoop in to crush the snake's head with his talons!

Well, he could be BOTH.

And it all starts with the way I began that last sentence, with the word, WELL.

Let me go back to the beginning.

These past few months have been unknown wilderness to me. Oh, I know. Everyone who has walked with God for any length of time has come to know wilderness areas intimately.

But this one has been different for me.

Why? Not because of the duration. Not even because of the severity of any particular blow from the enemy.

It has been the repetitive, continual appearance at the door of messengers, as in Job, chapter one.

14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, ...

16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, ...

17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, ...

And before Job had a chance to get his breath, one came right after the other!

We all shy away from invoking Job when we are under duress because none of us can measure up to Job, of whom God HIMSELF said to Satan, “Have you thought about My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth. He is without blame, a man who is right and good. He honors God with fear and turns away from sin.”

Duly noted. Now we will continue, having embraced the Word of God "for instruction in righteousness."

(Imagine smiley face inserted right here.)

So, back to the word, "well."

I wrote a friend today to thank her for the wells she helps people find. When we are in the wilderness and trying to find our way out, we are always looking for the next well. When we are going through our worst times, we must be able to get a drink of water, the living water that springs up and quenches a thirst in us that plain water cannot touch.

The children of Israel were delighted to find a place they named Elim, where there were 12 wells and 70 palm trees. But what they received there soon ran out and they needed more. (At this very moment, Cathy came in to tell me that an expensive piece of tech in our house died..."And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, ...

So, my response from the heart must be: The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away, BLESSED be the name of the LORD! And there is a real-time example, even if it is not of the gut-wrenching variety of the past few months, it still really stings.)

Well, God is able to give what we need the same way I began this sentence...with another WELL.

You see, it always appears that we are surrounded by desert, but as long as there is a well nearby and a palm to sit underneath, we are going to make it!

It may appear to others that we "eagles" are falling from the sky (and we ARE for a bit), but we are going to take out some snakes before it is all over!

Would you join me in starting more of our sentences with WELL?

Well?