Stop comparing your wings and feathers to those of others and get into the ostrich race! Spread whatever feathers the Lord has given you and run with laughter and joy. Thank him for blessing you with gifts perfectly matched just for you.
Hi I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I’m so delighted to share my hope with you.
Don’t you love it when someone sheds light on a really obscure passage of scripture; you know the kind: you’ve read it a hundred times and it’s never really made sense? You figure it’s just one of those things God threw in there to sound poetic. Like Job 39, the 13th verse where the Lord speaks to Job and says, “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.” Okay, so, is God just making a point about ornithology? Is this a study of birds or something?
Well, my friend Pastor Bob Bjerkaas sent me this verse the other day with a fascinating insight. Because if you were to consider what part of the ostrich is most useless, inadequate, most inferior and embarrassing feature – it would surely be its wings. In Job 39, God tells us that the ostrich's wings are nothing compared to those of the stork. Yet, look at what that verse says. It says, “The ostrich flaps those useless, inadequate, inferior, and embarrassing wings with joy!” Apparently, she couldn't care less how her wings compare to that of the stork. That’s pretty cool because, as we all know, it’s the glory of a bird to flap its wings, right? When he does, it’s like he’s boasting in his birdie-ness, he’s proud of being a bird. But when an ostrich does that, does he know his wings are useless? What’s to boast about that?
Well, I’ll tell you what; this really speaks to me in my disability! Because my legs are useless; my feet don’t walk; my hands don’t work – they are inadequate and inferior. But they are still a part of me; my paralyzed limbs are my “ostrich wings,” as it were, and like an ostrich flapping, I boast in my affliction. I delight in infirmity and glory in the limitation. What’s to boast about that? Well, that God’s strength inhabits my weakness, for everything he can do is made perfect in everything I cannot do! I cannot begin to tell you how happy this makes me, to know that God’s glory rests on me, all because I boast in my affliction. I glory in God!
God concludes his ostrich lesson with another picture of joyful abandon when, in Job 39:14, he says, “when [the ostrich] spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.” Okay, so an ostrich may not be able to fly, but it sure can run! They say it can even keep pace with some horses and that is speed! Which is so odd, because birds are known to be good fliers – they should not be known for their running ability. But an ostrich is. An ostrich can’t fly, but he has another gift in which he excels. And in the same way, my body may not be very useful for things it was designed to do but my spirit runs. My spirit soars. My God is near me in my weakness and so, I can run and not be weary; I can do that with joyful abandon! So, friend, let's stop comparing our wings and feathers to those of others, and get into the ostrich race! Let's spread whatever feathers the Lord in his grace and goodness has given us and run with laughter and joy – giving thanks to God who has wonderfully blessed us with gifts perfectly matched just for us.
Hey, thank you so much for receiving these hope filled words today to your heart. And be sure to visit joniradio.org where you’ll find great resources so that your spirit can run, not despite your weakness but because of it. And that is something to boast in the Lord about. See you later, at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends