The Flight That Has No Runway

The Bar-tailed Godwit makes the longest nonstop flight of any bird on Earth. Each autumn, these small shorebirds launch from the mudflats of Alaska and fly over 7,000 miles across the open Pacific Ocean to New Zealand — without stopping once.

No rest. No food. No land beneath them for nine straight days.

In 2007, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey fitted a female godwit — designated E7 — with a satellite transmitter and tracked her journey: 7,145 miles of continuous flight over featureless ocean. She had no runway on the other end that she could see from Alaska. She had no guarantee. She simply spread her wings over the water and flew.

Here is what strikes me: before she ever lifts off, her body has already been preparing. She doubles her weight in fat reserves. Her internal organs actually shrink to reduce drag. Everything within her is being restructured for a journey she cannot yet see the end of.

This is what trust looks like in the life of faith. When God calls us into the unknown — a new chapter, a difficult obedience, a season of waiting — He has already been preparing us for the flight. The provisions were laid down before the journey began. Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides, does not send us over open water without first equipping us for the crossing.

You may not see the landing. But the One who built the compass inside you has already charted the course.