You know how it is when you've kept that new favorite song on repeat for months, until you've started to wear out its appeal and have to take a break?
That's what happened to me with Lauren Daigle's new album, Look Up Child. The title track was one of my top listens, but it's been on hiatus for a month or so. Inexplicably, on this day, I decided to play it on the drive to a favorite hiking spot.
About half an hour down the trail, I had an encounter.
Hiking into the lake valley at a brisk pace, I'm aware of the beautiful surroundings but not fully engaged. I'm lost in the recesses of my mind, daydreaming familiar, addictive thought patterns that have no business being cherished there. Head down, eyes focused mostly on the ground in front of me, so that icy snow and gravity will not get the upper hand. The sun has been drifting in and out of clouds; the forest growing gradually brighter.
The moment was so sudden, it was almost like a reflexive reaction. I thought I saw a shadow soaring on the snow, flickering through tree shadows. Instantly remembering that I was in eagle territory and had not been watching the sky, my eyes went up. In the space of that second, I heard it in my spirit: "Look up, Child!"
And there, soaring high over my head against a sky now astoundingly blue, was an eagle.
For so many years, I longed to catch sight of these majestic raptors in the wild, but I've never been a serious birder who studies habits and habitats and seeks out the best places to watch. Yet in the last year, my Father has surprised me with several sightings! It's become for me one of those special love touches from God. He knows exactly what will delight each one of His children.
Where I had stopped, there was a perfect sun-dappled spot with a fallen limb to sit on, so I took the invitation and lingered there for awhile, drinking in the sun and the sky and watching for another glimpse of the eagle. And the train of my thoughts began to shift, as I pondered the meaning of this divine interjection.
I believe it was a call of mercy from my Father, as if He were saying, "Daughter, look up from the endless circles of your limited thinking, your anemic desires, and your shallow dreams. Look up; I'm here, and I'm waiting for you! I love you, and I freely give you Myself!"
Later, sitting by the water and enjoying serious communion with Father, I asked Him if I could see the eagle again. Some time after, as I was following the lakeside trail, the snow crunching emphatically under my feet, a huge bird suddenly winged from a treetop a short distance ahead. My breath caught; I strained to see what it was as it fled so quickly from my view, but I thought I saw the white head. When it circled back and returned to perch near the spot it had just left, I saw that it was definitely an eagle! Slowly I resumed walking, hoping to get closer. He took off again, but remained nearby, riding slow circles on the currents, and then gliding off towards the far side of the lake. I watched him still, a large speck, as he circled lower and lower, finally settling on the ice near that side. Regretfully, I never think about binoculars until I'm in these situations where I want them! I stopped there and trained my eyes on that distant bird, just enjoying the love gift from my Father, whispering my love back to Him. I stayed there for several minutes, until the eagle flew off once more and was lost among the trees.
Our heavenly Father never stops coming after us, even when our thoughts are far from Him. We can only love Him at all because He loved us first by making the way for us to come Home through the body and blood of His Son. He loves you completely as you are, but He's not willing to leave you unchanged. He already sees who you WILL be, and He is going to make you everything He intends.
Wherever you are, look up. Your Father has the words of eternal life. He is where the joy is found. He delights in declaring His love to His precious child.
Look up. He's waiting.
