GLIDING ON THE RAILS

"Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 (NLT)


As I mentioned yesterday, the Cheerleader and I just got back from a week's stay in Mexico.  One of our daily rituals was to just watch what was going on in the ocean.  Where we stayed was right on the ocean and our view was very...VERY pretty.  There were a few rock formations that were built to help temper the waves as they came in to shore.  On these rocks, each day, sat a group of Pelicans.

Every now and again, one of the birds would leave their perch on the rocks, fly up, circle around and then dive right into the water...and usually come up with a "snack!"  It was a very cool sight to watch this take place.  At other times, like in the picture above, they would just fly...glide really...right on top of the water.  It was if they just "LEANED IN" to something...a force...that carried them effortlessly over the water...whether the water was calm or was choppy with waves. THAT was an amazing sight.

This "gliding" reminded me of a conversation that I had one time with Navy Pilot, who flew fighter jets.  He talked about flying at a certain ALTITUDE where it seemed as if there was no effort.  He called it, "GLIDING ON THE RAILS!"  That is what I imagined watching the pelicans fly over the water.  No effort....no care.  Quite the opposite of flying into turbulence and landing "hard," like we did when we arrived back home.  Felt like we "dropped like a rock" when we touched down.

I have found that dealing with "turbulence" will be there in our lives, it's how we choose to deal with it.  A couple of days ago we looked at "ATTITUDE and ALTITUDE."  Are we keeping our "nose" up or down?  The above verse from Philippians is a GREAT "gliding on the rails" or "altitude climber" when we find ourselves dealing with things in our lives.  To experience PEACE externally, it first starts with PEACE internally.  The best way to find that peace is to "lean in" to HIM.  The verse in Philippians, right before our the one above:

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6

As you go about your day...your week, find that place...whether the water is "calm" or "choppy"...that you LEAN IN and keep "GLIDING ON THE RAILS" to your BEST YEAR YET!