“There are two kinds of people; those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’ “- C. S. Lewis
“Even the stork in the heavens know her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord.”- Jeremiah 8:7
The International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, is a hidden treasure located about ten miles from the water park mecca of Wisconsin Dells. Founded in 1973 by George Archibald and Ron Suey, the ICF mission combines research, captive breeding and reproduction, landscape restoration, and education to safeguard the world’s 15 crane species. One of those species, the Siberian crane (aka snow crane), stands 5 feet tall with a wingspan of 83-91 inches.
Siberian cranes have the longest migratory route of any crane species, flying over the mighty Himalayan range from their breeding grounds in eastern and western Russia to their wintering grounds in China and Iran, respectively. Initial breeding efforts at the ICF were unsuccessful until they replicated the midnight sun of the Arctic tundra.
Mark Batterson (All In) posits that we want God on our own terms- pick and choose, cut and paste. But the only way to get a relationship with God is on His terms. The rules of engagement cannot be changed. Pastor Batterson succinctly states there is no middle ground: “If Jesus is not Lord of all, then Jesus is not Lord at all.” To be fully alive, to be all in, is to be fully present and to press on.
When Jesus prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, He wrestled with and agonized over the will of God, asking His Father to take the cup from Him. Yet, Pastor Batterson notes, Jesus qualified His request with the ultimate all in prayer: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
In Finding God in the Ruins, Matt Bays asserts that, deep down, many of us believe God owes us- because we are chosen, God should deliver. This kind of misguided thinking makes it difficult to approach or trust God. Matt encourages us that the journey of redemption can develop that trust:
“Redemption is not an escape but rather a journey. . . . redemption will always be most powerful when we can trace God’s hand along the way. A lightning bolt is not so impressive . . . but looking back to see where God’s hands have pushed the clay of brokenness into something we never thought it could become is truly redemptive.”
