I Believe I Can Fly
4. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
6. And I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest.”
7. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
Psalm 55:3-7
Forced To Flee
It is quite common for people to live in the panic mode. This seems to be the mindset of the modern age. This is the frame of mind that focuses on fright, fight, or flight. With all the buttons pushed to the maximum, it seems that the entire world is on edge. The good news is that we are not the first generation to encounter this level of panic mania. The people in the Bible also faced harsh circumstances that challenged them to live with fright, fight to stay alive, or take flight to another place. The people that followed God, however, experienced a different outcome as they learned to face their perils with God’s guidance.
Abraham, that great patriarch of faith, had bouts with the panic mindset. When famine swept over the land God had promised, Abram learned that it was convenient to flee into Egypt rather than face the hardships of food shortages and lack of basic needs. The thing he learned from fleeing is that it does not solve the problems, nor does it increase our faith in God. Fleeing is a desperate attempt to see problems in the rear-view mirror rather than to face them head on.
Likewise, David, the anointed servant of God, was faced with a dire circumstance and his thoughts run quickly to the flight remedy. And I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest.” There were many reasons behind this pre-flight self-talk. He was on the run anyway from the jealous King Saul and David and his small band were outnumbered. But there was something deeper in David’s heart; he could not fight the Lord’s anointed king. To him, that was a dishonor to God. Thus, he faced the dilemma of adjusting to fright or taking flight. Fleeing became such an appealing option and the path of least resistance.
Isn’t that much like us today. We’re tired of living in constant fear and the threat of something else going wrong. Each day we wake up to bad news that usually involves us or things that belong to us. And we come to the same panic mindset, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest. People just say, “you should fight this,” but they don’t know how tired you are and can’t understand how weary you are. It is easy to make comments about somebody else’s problems. In that people become geniuses and self-appointed couch coaches over the issues you are facing. They don’t understand the war that is going on inside of you and certainly can’t understand how many questions you have about life itself. Worst yet, they don’t know the severity of the problems that you face. The truth is that God knows, and in Him, You will find the answer. So, before you take flight to your escape destination – call upon the Lord.
The wonderful thing about David and this Psalm is that prior to David just launching off to the wilderness, he prays and talks to God about his need. He tells God how distressed he is and makes his complaint that the fears are about to get the best of him. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me … Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. In that context, he (David) is bringing to God all his concerns and his plans. He goes as far as to suggest “if he had wings – he could fly away and be at rest.” David observes two things. First, he realized that he did not have wings. Second, he recognized that even if he possessed wings, he needed directions on where to fly.
Learning to Fly
I noticed that there are three conditions will impact your flight plans. First, you must know how to take off. Second, you must have enough fuel to fly to the appointed destination. Third, you must know how to land. While each of these pre-flight preparations seem simple, they are anything but simple especially when you don’t have wings nor were you designed to fly like a dove. To learn to fly, engineers had to study the way birds would fly. They studied wing design and the design of the fuselage. These engineers had to learn updraft and downdraft in order to develop the airplanes that could fly to a certain destination. Flying is a lot more complicated than you think.
There is another situation or condition that exists while flying. We don’t consider the fact that problems may develop while flying to the destination. Simply saying, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest.” David was admitting that flying might not be the best solution, but it was the one he came up with. The truth is that a storm can cause some major problems for birds and everything else that tries to fly through the wind and rain. How many times have you been in flight and the pilot came on the intercom and announced, “we are experiencing turbulence.” It goes to show that flying away from problems may result in you flying into other problems.
Danny Campbell, the owner of Doves Ministry, releases his doves at weddings, funerals, and other celebrations. He noted that doves are capable of flying long distances and finding their way to their destinations even at night. They do have some problems and natural enemies. One would be the storm, but the other would be hawks and owls that are natural predators to doves. They can fly faster, and their claws can simply grab their prey in midair. When doves sense a hawk in the air, they scatter. So, asking for wings like a dove is not the wisest request. This brings us full circle to the question of whether God wants us to fly? The answer is yes, but not in the way we anticipate.
This brings us back to R. Kelley’s song, “I Believe I Can Fly.” While it points to a wonderful idea, there must be a way of transforming belief into action. Thankfully, God Almighty has a flight plan for you and me.
God’s Flight Plans
It is never the will of God for His children to flee to anyone or anything other than to Him. The good news is that David took flight the moment he prayed. Talking to God is our way of escape from the storm and tempest. Psalm 46:1 declares that God is our refuge and very present help in trouble. Although prayer and turning to the Scripture for guidance during the crisis is not our first reaction, it is something that we must learn to do as our response to every crisis. Think of it this way. The problem did not come to test you personally, but rather to test your faith. God already knows what is in man. He already knows that we are but a vapor that appears for a season and then vanishes. God already knows everything about us including our desire to escape. What we don’t know is that for every crisis God has already made a way of escape. As a matter of fact, 1 Corinthians 10:13 informs us that no temptation has seized you except what is common to man … and God is faithful; He will not let you to be tempted beyond what you can bear … But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Yes, God wants you to fly, but instead of flying from it, God desires that you fly through it.
In order to fly through the struggle, you must be properly equipped. Note also, that God will not allow you to be pressured beyond your ability to endure. God is going to put something inside of you that will help you fly through the crisis. In the Fifty Fifth Psalm, God did not give David the wings of a dove as he suggested. Instead, God gave him a song in his heart. God gave him a praise on his lips. God gave him the faith that he needed to endure the conflict. This inspired the Psalmist to declare in verse 16, as for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. That is learning how to fly.
Does God really grant us wings? As a matter of fact, God wants you to fly but His desire is that you head to the battle, not from it. It is only when you fly that you will experience the victory as a child of God. Listen to this encouragement from Isaiah 40, verses 30-31. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall … But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles (not doves); they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. That is the confidence of the children of God. They really can fly because God wants them to fly through every crisis and situation by the power of His Grace.
In applying this flying lesson to real life, we must recall these important facts. First, God will only allow a crisis that will help you and not harm you. Second, God will instruct in the time of crisis so that you will be equipped to face every conflict with confidence. Third, God has a destination and a flight plan for each crisis, but these crises are not uncommon from what other saints are facing. This means, we can share and encourage others as we go through the problems together; you call this “the Church.” Remember how doves scatter when the eagle attacked; that should never be the case for children of God. We are in this together. Lastly, our flight plans are designed to take us all the way from earth to glory. We will fly away and be at rest.