CREATION SPEAKS: Bird's Eye View

Creation Speaks is a Biblical teaching ministry that uses nature writing and photography to glorify our Creator and teach the truth of creation. “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?" Job 12:7-9

Bird's Eye View -- Close up photo of Great Blue Heron. December 18, 2018. Walton County, Georgia.

Have you ever desired to fly like a bird or soar like an eagle? To see entire, sweeping landscapes and distant horizons all from one vantage point? Who wouldn’t! And with the price of drones coming down, captivating aerial photos and video are becoming much more common. Drone footage grabs and holds our attention and imagination, and we often do not know why.
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Drones give us a perspective on things in ways we can never naturally see them. From high up above our normal position, drones give us that proverbial “Birds’ Eye View” on the world… and that appeals to us! We imagine having the outstretched wings and keen eyes of the hawk; an image that personifies true freedom; a freedom other creatures covet. 

Bird's Eye View -- Turkey Vulture soaring over Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia, USA. July 29, 2013.

A fellow Christian blogger and photographer Simon Desjardines wrote, “One of the great advantages a drone offers is that it can get where we cannot…All of a sudden we can be transmuted into a bird and cross frontiers to reach our goal.” A soaring bird has a much greater field of view than us earthbound pedestrians.
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And the “bird’s eye view” image speaks of something even beyond birds; it speaks of an omniscient God with a much higher vantage point than ours… outside of time and space, in fact. A recent evangelist to my congregation spoke, “God has a bird’s eye view of our lives. He knows where He is trying to take us. He knows what lies ahead.” From His perspective, God’s view sees more than the moment we are struggling in.

Bird's Eye View - Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, North American Raptor bird of prey. Close up portrailt profile of beak, feathers, eye. Walton County, Monroe, Georgia, USA. August 1, 2017.

A view from higher up changes our outlook on our current trials and past failures. Instead of stopping us, we see them as teaching moments along the road to help us move forward. The evangelist concluded, “This is just a small portion of your life. But use it to move on.”
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When an aerial photo shot by a drone speaks to you, be conscious of the thoughts awakened in your soul. “Oh to have the capability of a bird and see all the landscape before me!” But even if you’ll never learn to fly, Oh to have the capability of a God on your side who knows all the road ahead of you! “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).