Drivers Permit

Tyler just got his driver's learning permit today. Brent and Tyler are down the road at a school parking lot practicing as I write this. What a journey it has been to get to this moment. I had to stop and reflect on all of the events that happened to get to this day. How many hours did Tyler have to ride in the car until he could get to the point where he could be behind the wheel? That counter started when he came home from the hospital as a newborn and continued until today.

Did Tyler have to be patient until this moment? Not really. He did not know as a baby that he would be able to drive and even as a child he knew that he was not old enough to drive. When his birthday came around in February he still was not ready and voiced that he did not yet want to go get his permit. Then came the opportunity for him to go see his grandparents in Idaho which would require him to fly by himself accross this country. Because he was to fly, he was going to need a government issued ID card. What better ID to get than a Driver's Permit? It took an unrelated event to driving to get him driving.

Sound Familiar? I think about the way God works in our life when it comes to His will for our lives. He has such a HUGE plan for us and yet he knows when we are ready. Sometimes we get a glimpse of His plan and it scares us to death! He knows us and how we are and how we react and still get scared. So he brings something good in our life to lead us down the road we never thought we would get to travel. God is so good. He is so creative and has such a plan for each of us.

Ephesians 1:8-10 (New International Version)
8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[a] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Vultures

Every morning I drive down a main road that was cut through the middle of a conservation area. The sad part of this road is that there is still a large amount of wildlife (including deer) that insist on crossing this busy road to get from one side of the landscape to the other. A result of this passage is most of the animals do not make it.

The vultures love this road. They actually sit up in the trees all day long waiting for something to be killed. If they are hungry, they know that they will not be hungry for long.

This caught my eye one day as I was traveling and it sent me to Google vultures when I got to my computer. They really are amazing birds and it is said by many that they are very misunderstood. But not looking at them to become an advocate for their position in the food chain, I found the facts about them so interesting as it relates to us in our spiritual walk.

Vultures do not work very hard at getting their food. It is said if they cannot break the skin on the dead animal, they will just sit and wait for a bigger animal to come along and do it for them. They are not affected by any bacteria and can even tolerate anthrax. They can eat the oldest, nastiest, and diseased animal and be absolutely fine! They eat until they are gorged with food! They overeat to the point that they will just sit in a daze until it is digested and they are able to move again. They only attack sick, near-dead or dead animals and do not go after the ones that are healthy and strong. They anticipate which animals that will be. It is said that vultures would line battlefields and just wait.

The thought came to my mind that in our spiritual walk, there are vultures. Each person has their own vultures that line the trees of their life waiting. It might be addictions, guilt, worry, pride and the list could go on. It is when we are sick, tired, angry or physically exhausted that these vultures attack. We know when we are vulnerable and it is during these times that we must realize that we need to take care of ourselves physically, emotionally and spiritually or we can fall victim to the attack.

Each of these vultures do not have any interest in making us a better person, but are so selfish that they will not stop until they completely devour us to the point that there is nothing left. Only we have God, who is ready to drive them away when we look to Him.

Job 15:22-23

He despairs of escaping the darkness;

he is marked for the sword.
He wanders about—food for vultures;

he knows the day of darkness is at hand.