Fall, Then Fly

When a bird learns to fly, it falls off a high surface. It spreads it wings, and it tries to fly. Maybe it takes a couple times before it is able to soar through the clouds. Or maybe it takes only one time. But they fell. It's a beautiful concept, really
I was walking in a grocery store the other day and caught the chorus of a song playing on the radio. I don't remember the exact words but it said something like: "You only learn to fly when you fall." And I don't know. Maybe it's just a wild idea. We're humans. We can't fly on our own with wings. We weren't built for that. But in a general abstract idea (i have those a lot) we technically do fly in a metaphorical way. And in this flying, we have to fall first. It's like the saying about falling down and then getting back up again. It's part of life. it's part of why we live. It's part of why we walk in our daily lives with God. Because he's always their to help us up when we fall down on our faces and scrape up our knees. But He's also the momma bird. He's there when we finally jump off the branch on our own. He there's when we fall. He knows we can eventually soar into the clouds, but just in case we miss the timing, just in case we forget to open our wings, He's always there to catch us and help us back up to the branch.

"When it feels scary to jump, that is when you jump. Otherwise, you end up staying in the same place your life. And that... that I can't do." ~Unknown.

We limit ourselves and our abilities. We limit our talents, and we feel scared. We don't want to jump because we are scared. "But what if I fall?" "Oh, my darling, but what if you fly?" ~Unknown. I just want to live my life with no fear. I want to be able to JUMP off that branch, even when I am scared to death. I want to be able to take a leap of faith, always believing in God to catch me when I slip up; when I forget to spread my wings; when I hit the ground too hard. I want to wake up believing this day is going to be a good, despite all the pain, despite all the heartache that goes around us. And when we finally learn to jump off the branch and fly, then we help someone else. Our ultimate destiny on this earth is to win others to Christ. And I get scared. And I give up easily. And I won't fly, because I am afraid of falling. Of failing.... It's almost too natural to be afraid of this feeling. And we're wrong when feel like this. "Fear not, for I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Am I helping others around me want to fly? Or am I encouraging limitations? Others watch us all the time. Do we always set the good example to fly whilst believing God is there to catch us?  Because we were meant to "fly". All it takes is a leap of faith, a jump off the branch, a spreading of the wings, and a mind set to soar instead of fall. You're not going to fail anything with God at your side. Maybe it's the thought that others are standing their watching, too, waiting for you to mess up so that they can talk about it. It's not men we are trying to please, it is Christ. Maybe you end up with a broken wing. You let the Healer take care of you, and you try again.

It's that feeling. That dread. But you can't fly until you fall.