I seem to constantly catch “flashes” of life lessons while driving in my car. My encounter with an osprey was a flash into my literal vision as well as an “aha” entry into my “you need to pay attention to this” file.
I caught sight of an osprey through my windshield and quickly noticed he was clutching something in his claws. A more focused look revealed he had captured a fish for his lunch. As I made my way to my destination, I was able to maintain a visual of the bird heading to his own little section of nature’s dining room so he could enjoy the fruits of his catch. Eventually our mutual path diverged but I was left with a sobering, heart-gripping thought:
“What are you clinging to? What do you hold in your talons that gets you out of bed each day, stirs you to action and sustains you? What?” I knew that in order to glean God’s lesson to me from the occurrence, I had to come up with an answer.
The answer for me is completely different than it would be for you. After seeing the osprey, the thoughts inside my head swirled from motivation like family, freedom, fame, success or peace of mind to more negative motivators like greed, control or fear. It’s a given that personality, environment, genetics and experience all play a part in what we choose to hold so closely to our chest and so tightly in our grip but even in our most well-meaning efforts, our “fish” get elevated to the position of idolism in that they supersede our focus on God as our source.
What are you clinging to? What have you placed at the top of your list of things that you hold most dear? What tops your list of “I cannot live without . . .” ? or “ . . . gets me up and gets me going in the morning!” If God isn’t at the very top of that list, then he isn’t where he needs to be in your life.
It’s time to drop the fish and put God in his proper place. Only then can you soar and become all he has intended you to be.
Blessings!
