THE V-FORMATION--- CONDUIT OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO VICTORY…
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
A LITTLE MOUNTAIN COMMON SENSE: Once you pickle a cucumber you can never un-pickle it?
NEVER BE INTIMIDATED, BE ENCOURAGED: GOD HAS A PLAN. GOD IS GREATER…
2 Chronicles 32:6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, 7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
*ENCOURAGE, ENCOURAGEMENT: To take heart, to comfort, to strengthen, to inspire, to give someone support or hope, confidence. A SPIRIT OF HOPE, TO SPUR ON, TO GIVE HELP, FAN THE FLAME, SUPPORT, TO INSPIRE
Isaiah 35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you..
Romans 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Romans 15:2 (MSG) Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?"
Encouragement is more than a suggestion. You can encourage someone with an act of kindness, a kind word, a smile, a pat on the back, a prayer, a card, email.
LET US CONSIDER A QUESTION: DO WE ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER?
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Amos 3:3 (NIV) Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
Amos 3:3 (MSG) Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren't going to the same DIRECTION?
V-SHAPED FORMATION… GEESE ARE STRONG AS A SKEIN. The V-formation is called a skein.
Do we understand how wonderful God’s creation is? Study has revealed that GEESE fly in a V-shaped formation when they are migrating. This serves several purposes.
The V-formation improves the efficiency over long migratory routes. This formation conserves their energy. Each bird flies slightly higher above the bird that is in front of him resulting in a reduction of the wind resistance. Each bird flies in the up wash of wind from the bird in front. Each bird has a reduction of drag and they increase their range by 71%. The birds flying at the tips and front are rotated in a timely cycle way.
The V-formation conserves on the energy and efficiency of energy consumption. As the bird flaps the air rolls off the wing tip and creates a downwash and the air behind it pushes upward. If you observe the flight pattern almost always one side of the V is longer then the V-FORMATION.
THE LEAD BIRD TIRES MORE QUICKLY SO IT ROTATES TO THE BACK OF THE V-FORMATION.
If a goose FALLS OUT OF POSITION in the V-formation it suddenly feels the drag and resistance and the goose will quickly return to the proper formation.
WE CAN LEARN MUCH FROM ENCOURAGEMENT IN NATURE. GEESE ON LAND OR IN WATER ARE CALLED A GAGGLE. BUT WHEN GEESE FLY THEY ARE CALLED A SKIEN. WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT THE SKIEN? THE V-FORMATION…
*1. GEESE CAN FLY A GREAT DISTANCE BY TEAM WORK… A GROUP OF GEESE ON THE GROUND IS CALLED A GAGGLE. FLYING IN THE AIR THE GEESE ARE CALLED A SKIEN. GANDER IS A MALE, GOOSE IS THE FEMALE. BABIES ARE CALLED GOSLINGS.
*2. GEESE STAY TOGETHER TO PROTECT AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER. WHEN GEESE GROW TIRED AND FLYING GETS HARD, THEIR UNITY SUPPORTS EACH OTHER.
*3. Most birds fly very quietly, but geese honk very loudly to encourage each to keep up their speed and altitude. HONK, HONK? GEESE ARE HELPFUL TO EACH OTHER AND THE SOUNDS THEY MAKE ENCOURAGE OTHERS. THE HONK HELPS KEEP THE GEESE TO FLY AND GIVES A SENSE OF DIRECTION AND CO-ORDINATE POSITION CHANGES.
*4. GEESE ARE VERY LOYAL, THEY MATE FOR LIFE… GEESE ARE PROTECTIVE. OFTEN IF A GOOSE’S MATE DIES THEY REFUSE TO MATE AGAIN.
*5. IN THE HEAT OF THE SUMMER OFTEN MUCH OF THE FLIGHTS ARE AT NIGHT. THE NIGHT IS COOLER AND LONG DISTANCE FLIGHT GEESE TEND TO OVER HEAT. GEESE DON’T SOAR, THEY FLAP TO MAINTAIN DISTANCE, AND SO NIGHT FLIGHT HELPS THE GEESE STAY COOLER.
*6. GEESE LEARN WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER THAN WE ARE SEPERATELY.
*7. WHEN A GOOSE STARTS TO GO DOWN HE MAY BE SICK OR MAYBE WOUNDED. TWO GEESE WILL DROP OUT OF FORMATION AND THEY DESCEND TO FOLLOW THE HURT GOOSE DOWN TO HELP THE SICK GOOSE. THOSE TWO GEESE WILL STAY WITH THE GOOSE UNTIL IT DIES OR GETS BETTER AND ABLE TO FLY. THEN THEY CATCH UP.
*8.THE POWER OF SYNERGY, ONE ALONE WE ARE WEAK, UNITED WE STAND. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER …
FLYING IN THE V-FORMATION? DAVID HAS A GREAT LESSON TO TEACH US TODAY. DAVID KNEW THE V-FORMATION. DAVID WAS A GREAT LEADER AND HE WAS GOD CALLED. DAVID HAD V-I-C-T-O-R-Y AFTER VICTORY.
One day there was a new direction, a new lesson to learn. David and his men were returning home in a V-FORMATION. Just over the hill someone noticed DARK, BLACK SMOKE. Fear came over the camp. The men were approaching ZIG LAG. Zig Lag was the home for David’s military army. The smoke indicated something was wrong, very wrong. When the men went to their homes THE V-FORMATION WAS SHATTERED. The love and UNITY WAS SUDDENLY GONE.
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE LOSE THE V-FORMATION? Popular opinion can fade very quickly. Those with me can soon be against me. Ask Jesus the cry was HOSANNA, HOSANNA… in hours the cry turned to CRUCIFY, CRUCIFY.
1 Samuel 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
THERE IS A LOST ART IN THE CHURCH TODAY… WE SEEM TO EXPECT EVERYONE ELSE TO ENCOURAGE US… TO PLEASE GOD WE MUST KNOW HOW TO ENCOURAGE. THERE IS A LOST ART IN THE CHURCH TODAY… WE SEEM TO EXPECT EVERYONE ELSE TO ENCOURAGE US… TO PLEASE GOD WE MUST LEARN THE LOST ART OF SELF-ENCOURAGEMENT. LEARN THE LOST ART OF SELF-ENCOURAGEMENT.
In less than a mile, the smoke of a fallen city reveals that suddenly David was in terrible trouble, his V-FORMATION was crushed. No one expected this turn of events. David’s faithful men was now discussing the dark bitter loss of their families. NOW THE PRAISE was gone. The UNITY and the V-FORMATION OF UNITY was now let us kill DAVID, THE MAN OF God. They were going to stone David, David strengthened himself with trust in his GOD. The V-formation FORCED DAVID TO TURN TO PRAYER AND TRUST THE LORD.
Seems David and his men got so strong in the flesh they had eased up on the SPIRITUAL DIRECTION OF GOD’S SPIRIT. Not to worry, my friend, DAVID WAS A FRIEND OF GOD…
1 Samuel 30:8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
CONCLUSION: DO YOU EVER FEEL SO ALONE AND EMPTY? We often say the words “I CAN’T.” Maybe the real truth is “I WON’T.” I read a story about a poor little village and the village was so poor and because there was a terrible drought. There was a very old man in the village. He was old and feeble. He sought some food and no one had any food to save the old man’s life. The old man knew not only he was going to die because there was little food. The old man prayed and prayed for rain and food to save his village. The old man heard the strangest idea in his heart. His brain knew the idea was stupid. But his heart knew he was to make ROCK SOUP. After a day or so, the old man said I am dying anyway, why not obey the inner voice. The old man borrowed the biggest iron cauldron in the village. The old man put the CAULDRON IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VILLAGE and the children made fun of the old man. Then the old man drew several buckets of water out of the deep well that was almost dry. He carried the 4 big buckets of water and poured the water in the CAULDRON. The old man carried dry bushes, limbs and started a fire under the iron cauldron. All the village gathered to watch the old crazy man build the fire. He then carried logs and slowly brought the water to a boil. Then the old man walked around and found some of the prettiest rocks on the ground and he gently placed the rocks in the cauldron. He got a large metal paddle and he would stir the pot making his rock soup. He prayed and prayed as he was obedient to the voice of God. As he stirred the rock soup, he kept saying: NOW FATHER I HAVE DONE ALL THAT I KNOW TO DO. The whole village was watching the crazy old man MAKE ROCK SOUP. A little old lady left and went to her little shed. She returned with her apron full of potatoes. She went up to the cauldron and cut up her potatoes and threw them in the hot water. A child was told by his grandma to run home and get the carrots they had been saving. The child ran back with 10 big juicy carrots and the Granny cut up the carrots and threw them in the pot. The old man just kept faithfully stirring the cast iron pot. God was doing something with the rock soup. Another family had several wonderful onions. The onions were diced up and into the pot they went. Another man had a quart and a half of barley, he poured it into the soup. One cow in the village had not gone dry and the milk was used for the babies. The man came out of the barn with some milk and butter. The old man keeps stirring and not saying a word. The village was seeing a miracle. Another family had a bowl of dry pinto beans. Wow, the old crazy man started praising and glorifying God. The ROCK SOUP reminded the village people that WHEN WE SHARE WHAT WE HAVE GOD HONORS WHAT WE DON’T HAVE. WHILE THE OLD MAN STIRRED THE POT OF ROCK SOUP HE GATHERED THE CHILDREN AROUND THE FIRE AND TOLD THEM TO RUN HOME AND GET BOWLS AND SPOONS. When the children came back the old man was finishing stirring the ROCK SOUP. THE OLD MAN CRIED. He told the children Jesus had a little boy bring his brown bag lunch of 2 small fish and 5 barely biscuits and the BOY SHARED HIS LUNCH and thousands of hungry people were full. The old man took the people’s bowls and filled them up.
A MIRACLE HAPPENED WHEN PEOPLE THAT WERE HOLDING BACK WHAT THEY HAD, BECAUSE WHAT THEY HAD WAS NOT ENOUGH. JESUS RAISE UP PEOPLE THAT WILLINGLY SURRENDER ALL TO MAKE ROCK SOUP. The people had ROCK SOUP FOR 3 DAYS, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED ON THE THIRD DAY? GOD SENT RAIN AND THE DROUGHT WAS OVER. GOD HAS A PLAN CALLED THE V-FORMATION THAT HELPS US ACCOMPLISH LONG TERM GOD GOALS.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
