The God in the Narrow Straits

The God in the Narrow Straits

The God in the Narrow Straits

by Robert Stearns

Over the last few weeks, many Jews in Israel and around the world have observed the “Bein Hametzarim” or what is commonly called “the Three Weeks.” This observance is taken from a passage in Lamentations 1:3:

“Judah has gone into exile because of suffering and harsh toil. She dwelled among the nations but found no rest; all her pursuers overtook her in the narrow straits.”

In Hebrew “Bein Hametzarim” is translated “narrow straits” or “between the days of distress.”

The Three Weeks is a time of mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple and the Jews’ dispersal into exile.

The period begins on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, a fast day that marks the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 AD.

It concludes with the fast of the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av), the date when both Holy Temples were burned, which falls on Sunday, August 11 this year.

During the period of the Three Weeks many Jews refrain from celebrations of any kind. There are no weddings and many won’t even listen to music during this time. Some don’t even shave or get haircuts during these days.

These are the saddest days of the Jewish calendar. And in light of this observance I want to pause to reflect on a remarkable passage from the book of Isaiah:

“In all their distress he [God] too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy, he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” (Isaiah 63:9 NIV)”

It really is extraordinary to think that our God is “distressed” with us in the valleys of our life. How amazing. He is not only present to us as our “answer” that we are waiting for; He is close as a co-participant in the valley of confusion or trouble in which we find ourselves. He is an involved, active God, not only in our Salvation, but in our Suffering.

Suffering is painful. In the midst of betrayal, deception, abandonment, and persecution, we can say with the apostle Paul, “…but in all these things we are more than conquerors.”

If we quiet ourselves, we see the “fourth man in the fire” like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. “The angel of His presence saved them.” Not the angel of His Power or Might – though He can move in that way if and when He chooses.

Remember, salvation comes simply from His Presence. His Presence saved them, saves us, and saves you and me. He is present, distressed with us, and so we have peace. It is enough. We are not alone.

As I consider how this encourages me personally right now, I also reflect on how this principle applies to the people of Israel.

For those who believe, God’s Spirit is with us in all we do – and perhaps especially as we comfort His ancient people, Israel.

Today, through our prayers and our support of Israel and the Jewish people, perhaps you and I can carry on the work of assisting the “angel of His presence” in letting Israel know that God has not abandoned her.

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ABOUT US

Eagles’ Wings. and our affiliates (“we,” “us” or “Eagle’s Wings”) is focused on (1) Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, (2)Renewing the importance of spiritual community and (3)fostering understanding across cultural divides, through social media, mailings, email, conferences, speaking engagements and related forms of media and other presentations.

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For the purposes of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, Eagles’ Wings, and each of its departments for which you have interacted with for a product or service are the data controller.

INFORMATION COVERED BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy covers personal information, including any information we collect, use and share from you, as described further below. This privacy policy applies to all websites of Eagles’ Wings our products and services, and our mobile applications (collectively, the “Services”). This privacy policy does not cover how our Users may use or share data that they collect using our services.

When you engage with us through service or product purchase, your personal information will be collected, used, and shared consistent with the provisions of this privacy policy as well as the following addendums related to particular products and services offered by Eagles’ Wings, which are a part of this privacy policy.

For the purposes of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, these are data processors:

INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM YOU

In the course of your use of the Services, we obtain the following information about you as described below. We collect this data for the purposes described in “How We Use Your Information”.

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USE OF SERVICES, WEBSITE VISITS AND SUPPORT

We store this data we collect in a variety of places within our infrastructure, including system log files, back-end databases, and analytics systems.

SOCIAL MEDIA

OTHER SOURCES

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We have a legitimate interest in running a successful and efficient organization and in providing you with Services and useful content, and we use the information we collect, both on its own and combined with any other information we collect about you, for the following purposes:

We also use the information we receive in aggregated and anonymized formats to produce reports on trends and statistics, such as mobile search trends, email open rates by industry, campaign best practices or the number of users that have been exposed to, or clicked on, our websites or evaluated or purchased our products and services.

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SHARING WITHIN Eagles’ Wings

We share personal information with other members of the organization to allow communication with you on offers of interest.  If you are located in a jurisdiction where such sharing requires your permission, we will only do so with your consent.

SHARING WITH THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS AND VENDORS

When we share personal information with certain third-party vendors, including marketing, data services and advertising partners, that information includes your name, email address and other information enabling partners to:

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LEGAL PROCESS

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EMAIL

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To manage the information we receive about you from a social networking site or other third parties (if applicable), you will need to follow the instructions from that party for updating your information and changing your privacy settings, where available. The information we collect is covered by this privacy policy and the information the third party collects is subject to such third party’s privacy practices. Privacy choices you have made on any third party site will not apply to our use of the information we have collected directly through our Services.

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Where the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, applies, in certain circumstances and subject to data processing agreements, you have rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you. We set out below an outline of those rights and how to exercise those rights. Please note that we will require you to verify your identity before responding to any requests to exercise your rights by providing details only known to the account holder. Please note that for each of the rights below we may have valid legal reasons to refuse your request, in such instances we will let you know if that is the case.

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You have the right to know whether we process personal information about you, and if we do, to access data we hold about you and certain information about how we use it and who we share it with.

PORTABILITY

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CORRECTION

You have the right to require us to correct any personal information held about you that is inaccurate and have incomplete data completed. Where you request correction, please explain in detail why you believe the personal information we hold about you to be inaccurate or incomplete so that we can assess whether a correction is required. Please note that while we assess whether the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may exercise your right to restrict our processing of the applicable data as described below.

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You may request that we erase the personal information we hold about you in the following circumstances:

Please provide as much detail as possible on your reasons for the request to assist us in determining whether you have a valid basis for erasure.

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You have a right to require us to stop processing the personal information we hold about you other than for storage purposes in the following circumstances:

You have objected to us processing personal information we hold about you on the basis of our legitimate interest and you wish us to stop processing the personal information while we determine whether there is an overriding interest in us retaining such personal information.

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You have the right to object to our processing of data about you and we will consider your request. Please provide us with detail as to your reasoning so that we can assess whether there is a compelling overriding interest in us continuing to process such data or we need to process it in relation to legal claims.

You also have the right, at any time, to object to our processing of data about you in order to send you marketing, including where we build profiles for such purposes and we will stop processing the data for that purpose.

WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT

Where you have provided your consent to us processing your personal data, you can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing [email protected].

THIRD PARTY LINKS & INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE BY OUR USERS

Some of our Services provide links to other websites. Because we do not control the information policies or practices of these third-party sites, you should review their privacy policies to learn about how they collect and use personal information.

You may also log in to some of our Services using sign-in services such as, but not limited to, Facebook Connect or an Open ID provider. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you with the option to share certain personal information with us, such as your name and email address to pre-populate our sign up form. For example, if you take advantage of certain of our social media features, such as the Facebook Like button, and widgets, such as the “Share This” button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site, the applicable social networking sites may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our websites, and may set a cookie to enable it to function properly.

DATA TRANSFER

In order for us to provide the Services to you, your personal information will be transferred to, and stored at/processed in the United States.

You can contact the Eagles’ Wings [email protected] for further information

COMPLAINTS

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how we process your personal information, please contact our office and we will try to deal with your request.

Eagles’ Wings
PO Box 450
Clarence, New York 14031

Telephone: (716) – 759 –1058
Fax: (716) 759– 01731

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NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we decide to change this privacy policy in any material way, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on www.eagleswings.org or the website of the Eagles’ Wings’ product or service you use prior to the change becoming effective. In all cases, your continued use of any Services constitutes acceptance to any such changes.