I saw a dragonfly recently and was able to quickly snap a picture of it. I was standing outside the donut shop in town waiting for a friend when this dragonfly appeared above me and was hovering. Or at least I thought he was hovering. It appeared to stay in this one place trying to decide where to go, but then the wind picked up and blew hard against him. He then seemed to force himself to go straight ahead into the wind. It was him or the wind!
I was mesmerized with his incredibly fast movements as I looked into the cloud-filled, blue sky. He suddenly veered to the right and then to the left. Then he returned to his spot near me. It seemed that when the wind picked up, he became more determined to stand against the wind and face it “head on”. As I said, sometimes he would veer right or left as if he was trying to “tease” the wind into thinking it could defeat him and knock him to the ground. After about 3-4 minutes, the dragonfly flew off, and my friend arrived wondering why I was looking into the sky for so long!
As I watched this feat of the dragonfly, I found myself thinking of the “head on” battles we often face. Sometimes it is easier than others to keep pushing forward. Sometimes we have to turn to the right or the left to catch our breath. The enemy can really push hard against us, can’t he?
But I felt my spirit rejoice when I saw the strategic maneuvers of this dragonfly. I wanted to cheer him on! He knew what he was doing, and he knew just how to get beyond this pesky wind!
I found out that dragonflies are extremely agile fliers and among the fastest insects. Dragonfly Britannica
Dragonflies are expert fliers. They can fly straight up and down and hover like a helicopter. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying. Nearly all of the dragonfly’s head is eye, so they have incredible vision that
encompasses almost every angle except right behind them. Dragonfly-Smithsonian
This dragonfly has several advantages: an agile flier; flies up/down, hovers like a helicopter; fastest insect; an eye that allows it to see every angle. And he never gave up on what he was doing or where he was going! Do you wish you had some of these features? Especially when it comes to facing the enemy?
It does sound compelling, but we already have someone who is mightier than all of creation!
We have God, who can cover us from every angle; move faster than any insect; hover above and below and all around us and can see in all directions. God is more powerful than any “wind” the enemy can throw at us. We don’t really have to turn to the right or the left to dodge the problems but can face each one straight on with the power of the Almighty God with/in us.
We worship a mighty powerful God who wants us to grow stronger as we face the “wind” of the enemy, and He will help us. He knows what we are capable of, and I think He wants us to have the determination of this dragonfly. Don’t let some attacks of the enemy blow you in a different direction from where you are going! Fight back but do it in Jesus’ name! There is no name more powerful than the name of Jesus!
In the words of the former North Carolina State Head Basketball Coach Jim Valvano, "Don't give up; don't ever give up!"
Thanks for stopping by,
Rachel
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