I have to admit, I love taking an occasional Sunday afternoon nap. There is nothing better than dozing off after a big meal on the Sabbath. I recently caught one of those cherished down times. As I faded off into sweet dreams, a faint buzzing sound caught my attention. It wouldn’t go away. Just about the time I was released from the conscious world, that annoying buzz started up again.
Curiosity drew me from my stupor and to the windowpane. There he sat, a single little fly frustrated like no other. He could see where he wanted to go, but something stood in the way of him and his destiny. His trouble was window “pain.”
Try as he might, he was getting nowhere. He put all his effort into breaking through to the other side, but the “pain” held him back. It was obvious he was worried, concerned and aggravated. How did he end up in such a mess? Had he come this far only to be denied the promised land just on the other side of who knows what that was holding him back?
The key to success was obvious. The answer to the window “pain” was in looking up. If only he would pause from his anxious labor and look up, he would have learned that up and over is where freedom waited to be discovered. Instead, he continued repeating the same approach but expecting different results, a sure sign of insanity. Some flies make it to the other side. Unfortunately, most die from window “pain.”
In a strange way, I found myself relating to the trapped and frantic fly. I, too, had felt like a victim of window “pain.” Try as I might to overcome life’s challenges, I beat against the invisible barrier that somehow kept me from reaching my promised land. Determined to beat the odds, I put more effort and energy into breaking through to freedom. Frustrated and discouraged, I gave in and gave up on fulfilling my dream. Life with window “pain” became a reality.
Such need not be the case. If only I would have looked up. The answers lie above. Rather than rely on myself, my heavenly Father waited with answers sure to provide fulfillment in a life designed for me by Him. If only I had looked up to Him sooner, my life in window “pain” would have been short-lived. Instead, all too often, I relied on my own strength and wisdom and not on His.
Free us from the window “pain,” Lord! Teach us Your ways. Direct our paths and lead our lives away from the window “pain” and into the freedom of Your will, Your way and into a life most fulfilling. Fly away we must. But first we must look away from the window “pain” and up into the eyes of the One who created us to prosper in the promised land.
He didn’t bring us this far to leave us. He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown. He didn’t teach us to fly, only to find us stuck in a windowpane! Look up. Come on over to life on the other side of window “pain.”
