The birds that inhabit the Grand Canyon are an interesting bunch. I’m not talking about the visitors – they’re an interesting bunch, too – but I refer to the winged denizens of the Great Chasm. Most common and notable are the ravens. These big, black-feathered fliers love to snatch anything that falls to the ground, especially if it’s edible or shiny. They also enjoy riding the wind that sweeps through the Canyon and up the rugged walls.
As I watched one particular creature, I noticed something I had never seen before. The wild raven began to do tricks in the air – barrel rolls, in which it would climb and then pull in its wings and spin, multiple times, like a cork-screw in the air. I marveled as the black bird repeated the maneuver time and again. The raven was actually playing as it flew, enjoying the wind that lifted it so it did not even have to use its wings to hurtle along the craggy face of the cliff. The simple joy that I saw expressed in those moments had me smiling the rest of the day!
It brought to mind a different bird, an eagle. There are some in the Canyon, along with condors, although I never saw them. The eagle I thought of was from a verse out of Isaiah – “…those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint“ (Isaiah 40:31). I’ve read that passage many times, and quoted it to others quite a few, too. The raven taught me, however, that I had missed an important detail about the circumstances that would accompany someone who claimed such a verse. Indeed, Isaiah’s advice in the passage (read it here) is for someone who complains. I’ve always thought it was about someone who is burdened and struggling, who needs to be strengthened because of adversity. Indeed, the “hope in the Lord” to which Isaiah refers has just such an affect.
The part I missed is the joy that accompanies such a hope. That soaring raven, playfully riding the updrafts, exhibited joy! It was not just enduring, but was born upward with delight – so much so that it couldn’t just ride, it had to frolic! The hope I have in Jesus and his Lordship doesn’t simply bring me from mourning to a place of stability. It pushes me above, like the Canyon’s updrafts, to a place of light and joy!
I don’t mean to say by this that if we are mourning and struggling with the difficulties of our lives that we always have to be perky and playful. That would be a sham. The joy to which I refer comes from seeing beyond our current difficulties to a hope that cannot be dimmed, and so brings us “the joy of the Lord.” Nehemiah encouraged the down-trodden Israelites with just such a reminder (see Nehemiah 8:10). Such joy is our strength, even in adversity. We can endure because we know the God Who Is Here, and in him is our hope and joy.
Those updrafts were things I could not see, and often could not feel, but I saw the effects in the flight of the ravens. Jesus used a similar description of someone who is “born of the Spirit” (see John 3:8). The same Spirit who is called Spirit Wind (“ruach” in Hebrew and Aramaic) in the Old Testament is so identified by Jesus in the New Testament. The Spirit is the one who sends the updrafts on which we, like the ravens and eagles, may ride to places of delight.
If you, like me, have been struggling with the rugged places in life, perhaps it’s time to seek some updrafts from the Holy Spirit, so that we may be borne over the rough terrain of life to find hope and joy. God will strengthen us through them to endure and overcome. I know this because I know that the One who cares for the birds of the air cares for us even more.
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