By Sarah Bullers
Frustrated, tired, and dirty, I wearily climbed over the boundary ropes, and made my way to the canyon ledge. I sat down and dangled my feet over the cliff, knocking a few small rocks free. I watched as they fell, momentum dragging them, faster and faster, until they blended with the sky, out of sight.
Funny, this is how I had been feeling lately. Like a rock someone had kicked loose, I was falling, trying desperately to find something to hold onto, knowing that gravity would eventually pull me down. I was lonely, and at that moment life seemed to make no sense, like I was a tiny minnow trying to survive in the big ocean. Scanning the horizon, my tears began to fall, until like the rocks, even they could not be stopped.
Suddenly, as though I was waking from a dream, through my tears I heard the sound of a flute. The music slid past me, becoming louder and louder as it echoed its way, bouncing across the canyon wall. Startled, I turned around to find a man about fifty feet behind me, sitting cross-legged, playing a beautiful Native American flute.
Frustrated that I was crying, and a little angry that my space had been invaded, I stood to leave. The man put down his flute, looked at me, and in a soft voice said, Life cant be that bad. God thinks that you are beautiful, and he wants to show you, if you would only open your eyes. Smiling, he slowly reached down, picked up his flute, and began to play again.
Open your eyes. The words began to repeat themselves over and over in my mind. I turned around and again sat at the edge of the cliff. I opened my eyes, and the world around me seemed to become illuminated. I sat in awe, gazing upon Gods magnificent creation while the melody of the flute brushed across my cheeks and filled my soul. An eagle effortlessly soared across the horizon.
I quickly turned back, wanting to thank the man with the flute. Somehow, lost in the beauty of it all, I had missed him walk away, though the echo of the flute still rang across the canyon.
In that moment I was filled with so much love, I no longer felt like the rock, but like the eagle. God was guiding the wind, and I was reaching out to him, soaring inside, effortlessly. All the anger, frustration, and loneliness I had felt for so long had vanished, replacing itself with love.
Many times in our lives we try to live according to our own agenda. Often we get so caught up in our own struggles that we forget to include God, the one who is ultimately in control. We can choose to do things our own way, which more often than not leads us open to Satan, and he will make us feel like the rock. He will push us over the edge and watch us tumble and fall into the darkness. Or we can daily open our eyes to Christ, and no matter how far or deep we have fallen, like the eagle, God will guide the wind as we soar above it all.
I choose to open my eyes, and continually let the music of the flute and the beauty of Gods creation overflow within me.