Flapping or Flopping?

Wednesday 5/28/2014 6:27 AM

Harvey and Lois Seifert make an interesting analogy in their book Liberation of Life.  “An ancient saying suggested that there are two wings by which we rise, one being personal piety and the other community charity.  No one can fly by flapping only one wing.  It is impossible to be sincere in our worship of God without expecting to do the will of God.  It is equally impossible to do the full will of God without the guidance and empowerment of a vital personal relationship with God.  As Allan Hunter has said, ‘Those who picket should also pray, and those who pray should also picket.’”

A bird flapping only one wing will go in circles and never get off the ground.  Ironically, I have recently been bemoaning the fact that my devotional life seems stale, as if I’m going around in circles with no clear direction as to what God wants for me.  The Seiferts might argue that I am only flapping one wing, trying to worship without doing or trying to do without worship.

From my perspective, I wonder if I am even flapping one wing, I’m simply flopping around in one spot on the ground.  I am attempting to hear God tell me what to do but he seems silent.  I am attempting to worship but it seems hollow, without substance.  Maybe God is simply letting me sit in one place until I acknowledge that without him I can do nothing.  It seems like I need to wait.  I hate that.