But there was another huge eagle, with broad wings and thick plummage, and the vine actually bent its roots towards him and stretched its branches toward him, away from the bed where it was planted! It would have him to water it, though it was planted beside brimming streams in a rich soil to bear its branches and yield fruit and prove a noble vine. Ezekiel 17:7-8 (Moffat)
If the Bible is true and I believe it is, then by virtue of my relationship to God the Father, I possess almost innumerable blessings, riches, resources, whatever! Yet I am like this tree. The second eagle comes along and I bend to it when in fact I am planted in and beside everything I need for a rich, fruitful, deeply satisfying life. What’s the problem! Why can’t I see this?
The immediacy of the second eagle, or second things (Lewis) is such an attractor. I don’t know if I can distinguish on the fly between personal satisfaction and soul satisfaction. My deep longings so easily get connected to second things. I long for a road map to get me out of this cycle.
I have people depending on me to lead them out of the wilderness, yet I find myself overwhelmed by my own wilderness with little or no direction. Father, at least give me a compass. I need the gift of true north in my life. I don’t plead for answers, on the next step. Influence my direction. I can trust you for the next step.
I confess my constant longing to live off of second things. It is so easy to run and hide because I measure my performance and by that determine my position. This morning I feel like a servant and not a son!
It is my unduing to not accept as reality that I am planted in the richest soil by a supply of life giving water. Father, in my stupidity destroy the connection that keeps me from living the obvious.