Psalm 55:6 - “And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

I love this time of year, the sky is so blue and so high, it amazes me. So often, I notice a hawk circling our neighborhood (hence, the name of the local elementary school mascot), just gliding on air, not moving its wings, carried effortlessly by the current. Far more proficient in flight is the Great Albatross, which has the largest known wingspan of over 11 feet! After a running take off, this bird can glide for over two hours without a single flap, sometimes napping while flying. That’s pretty amazing.

In Psalm 55:3-5, David verbally empties himself out before God, totally consumed with fear, trembling and horror in the face of his enemies. Then in verse 6 he says, “O that I had wings like a dove, for then I would fly away, and be at rest”. That’s what grace means to me, gliding effortlessly above my circumstances, resting in God.

Hebrews 4 says that there is a rest for the people of God. This rest is the same as when a lawyer “rests his case”, everything that needs to be said has been said. It’s a confidence in a positive outcome, it’s the grace-life. That’s what the Albatross does, one flap every now and then, and it’s on its way, actually able to circle the globe in 46 days, all while resting and gliding.

That’s what God wants for us, rest. Resting in the finished work of the cross of Christ. Leviticus talks about the seventh year being the year of rest for the fields. It tells of God’s supernatural goodness, and how His provision of crops in the sixth year was enough for that year, the seventh year while the fields rested, and the eighth year until harvest time. There’s increase in God’s rest.

So, learn to fly effortlessly, enter into the rest that God made ready for you through the finished work of Jesus. Learn to rest while you fly, and you will go further and faster than you’ve ever gone before.