By Judy Villanueva

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft. (Deuteronomy 32:10-11)

A live video feed was recently posted online with a bird’s eye view, so to speak, of an eagle hovering over her egg.  She shifted back and forth in the nest, never taking her eyes off the oval incubator that held her little eaglet.  From time to time she poked the egg with her beak as if to entice her offspring to break the shell that confined her.  “Knock, knock, knock” she pecked, “A life of flight awaits you! Break through!”  Birth, or in this case, shell-shedding happens in its own time but until then, anyone who tuned in, observed this majestic creature shielding the new life hidden within her egg and keeping a careful watch.

Life often forms in hiddenness.

It can appear and feel as though nothing is happening, but God is always hovering over our depths and dreaming into us!

No one escapes injury in the course of growing up!  Even the best parents are human and even the most resilient child lives in a fallen world.  Places of confinement develop right alongside places of freedom.  Are you aware of when and where you are “shelled-in”?  It is often revealed in those times when we feel trapped and subject to worry, anger, fear or sadness.  These strong emotions can surround us and become a kind of confinement that hinders our freedom to love, experience joy, or soar as God intended.  What do we do with these tight places and how do we break through to flight?

“Ruach Elohim” is the Hebrew phrase in these verses that refers to the Wind Breath of God! Just as He did when he hovered over the surface of the deep and called forth light and a world brimming with life, God watches over our lives with care and sees our unformed potential.

He knows what’s in the egg!

What has touched me this week as I have watched a mother eagle hover over her babe is the reality of God’s careful attention over my life. That the God of the universe hovers over me is not only astounding, it fills me with shell-shedding hope!  It makes me grateful and gives me courage to breakthrough and fly in freedom — on the wind breath of God!

“Ruach Elohim, breathe on me!  Create new life and give me wings to fly!  Thank you that you see my places of confinement and know just how to set me free.  Help me notice your voice that  invites me to new life.  Amen.”

What about you? 

Where are your places of confinement?  Where do you lack freedom to love, forgive, or trust?

Do you know that God watches over your life with care?  That He dreams into you?

What do you need from God today?  Where do you need a breakthrough?

The Wind Breath of God called forth light from darkness and a world brimming with life!  This is the One who watches over you!

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