Love is Stealthy

I have this eccentric love of aerodynamics and jets.  How can you not see a jet fly over you and just be incredibly in awe! Isn't that why we have air shows? People are just drawn to see these planes exhibit gravity-defying tricks at speeds that probably make the pilots lips numb.  When I went to school in Arizona we lived directly in line with the landing runway of the Air Force base down the road.  Every 30 minutes we would have A-10's in rows hover over campus.  Conversations would stop and almost every time I would look up, just in fear and awe (and annoyance).  I remember the first time it happened to me (because, well, we don't have an Air Force base where I live) I was so in shock, the sound, the precision, the aesthetics, the team work, the speed.  I told you it was an eccentric love.  And don't even get me started on the Tomahawks.  But if I ever had the ability to see any jet, it would have to be the stealth bombers and jet fighters (if I was even able to see one).  Take a look at these things brought to you by Google.

To me, those planes look like they shouldn't be able to fly and yet they do, very quickly. They are made in such a way to reduce their emission of heat, sound, sight and anything else used to detect it, and are capable of being almost invisible to radar preventing it from the likelihood of being seen, tracked, or attacked. They blow my mind.

Sometimes, I think Jesus works a lot like these planes.  He comes in under the radar when you least expect it, leaving no trace of detection until He drops a love bomb in your life, and your left in awe at the incredible power and presence of Him.  I might have stretched that analogy but I think you can understand the point. There are times in our life when we just sit there and wonder why God has pulled the rug out from underneath our feet.  Pain, death, relationships, jobs, bankruptcy, moving away, having your favorite sports team lose.  Whatever it might be for you right now, big or small, the world just won't stop spinning.  Maybe you can feel the depth of such lyrics as "I know I need to lift my eyes up, but I'm too weak, life just won't let up" from worn by Tenth Avenue North.  Listen to what the lead singer, Mike Donehey, has to say about that song!!

"When I look back on the photo album of my life and I'm flipping through the pages, it's rarely the easy and comfortable times that God's doing good. Every time God's really doing something amazing in my heart, it's when everything was falling part around me." Isn't that so true? For me personally, it is so easy to see that in my own life. You can probably tell too. I write so much more during the hard times in my life, then I do during the easy times. Why is that? Why is it so hard for me to feel inspired to write something when life is moving along so well? God is still teaching me during that time, I am still reading and listening. Is it that I just don't need, or feel like I need, that teaching at that moment? Maybe it's only when I am in the thick of pain, loss, mistreatment, solitude, change, fear, etc. that I cling to those teachings and see everything in a desperate light. And possibly, you can agree with me on that in your own life. I know, looking back, the times that I've felt most like God was holding me close, were in those hard times.

Psalm 34:18
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

Psalm 73:26
"My flesh and my heart may fall, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever"

God has a way of stealthily coming in and changing everything. He did it with his son Jesus even when those looking for him didn't expect it, and believe me, He is doing it with you right now. He's not in the business of flashy lights and signs. Most frequently he will talk to you in a still, small voice, during desperate times when pain and loss are blanketing you. So if you're going through one of those times right now, like I am, take heart and listen for God because a year, 5 years, 20 years down the road you'll look back and remember THAT as the time that God changed your life!