When the Ground Disappears
I want to tell you something about greyhounds that sounds completely impossible until you see it for yourself.
When a greyhound runs at full speed, it uses what scientists call a double suspension gallop. What that means in plain English is this: twice during every stride, all four of the greyhound's feet leave the ground at the same time. Not once. Twice. In fact, when a greyhound is running full out, it spends roughly 75% of its time completely airborne. That elegant, flying creature is, at any given moment, more likely to be in the air than on the ground.
Think about that for a second.
For a greyhound, losing contact with the ground is not a crisis. It is not a catastrophe. It is not even a stumble. It is simply how the greyhound moves forward. The very thing that looks like instability—all four feet off the ground, nothing solid beneath it—is actually the mechanism of its speed. The greyhound is not falling. It is flying.
Now, does any of that remind you of your life lately?
Maybe you know exactly what it feels like to have the ground pulled out from underneath you. The diagnosis that came out of nowhere. The relationship that fell apart. The job that disappeared. The plan you were so sure God was in that suddenly collapsed. One moment you felt steady, and the next? Nothing but air beneath your feet.
And in those moments, the enemy whispers: You're falling. It's over. There's nothing holding you up.
But here is what the greyhound knows that we forget: the absence of solid ground does not mean the absence of forward motion. God is not limited by what your feet can feel.
The Psalms are full of people who found themselves airborne (terrified, suspended, certain the fall was coming) and discovered instead that God was already underneath them.
Psalm 37:23–24 says it plainly: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand."
The LORD upholdeth him with his hand. Even mid-air. Even when you can't feel the ground. Even when nothing makes sense, and every circumstance is telling you that you are in freefall, God's hand is there.
The greyhound does not freeze in panic every time its feet leave the ground. Why? Because it was built for this. Its flexible spine, powerful muscles, and extraordinary design all work together in those airborne moments to carry it forward faster than it could ever move if it played it safe and kept all four paws planted.
And you, friend, were built for this too. Not built for a life without hardship, but built, by the grace of God, to move through it.
Isaiah 40:31 promises: "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Run, and not be weary. Even when the ground disappears.
There will be seasons in your life when everything you stood on is gone: the money, the health, the certainty, the plan. In those moments, you have a choice. You can curl up and wait to hit the bottom, or you can trust the One who ordered your steps, including the airborne ones, and keep moving forward.
The greyhound never stops mid-stride to look down and panic. It just runs, and the ground meets it again on the other side.
So can you.
🔍 PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN: A Peek at the Study Behind This Devotion
I'll be honest, when I started researching greyhound biology, I expected to find interesting facts. I did not expect to end up in tears over a dog's running technique. But here we are.
Here's how this study unfolded:
Step 1: While researching greyhound traits in general, I came across the term double suspension gallop, a running gait unique to sighthound breeds like the greyhound and whippet. The description stopped me cold: all four feet off the ground, twice per stride, with the dog airborne up to 75% of the time. I wrote it down and just sat with it.
Step 2: The spiritual parallel surfaced almost immediately. I asked: What does the Bible say about those moments when the ground disappears beneath us? That question opened the search.
Step 3: I searched for verses about God sustaining us when we fall, feel unsupported, or when circumstances collapse. Psalm 37:23–24 rose to the top, and the phrase "the LORD upholdeth him with his hand" became the anchor of the devotion.
Step 4: That verse pulled me to Isaiah 40:31, and the imagery of running and not being weary felt like a direct echo of the greyhound in full gallop. Two passages from entirely different books of the Bible, speaking the same truth in different voices.
Step 5: I noted a follow-up question: Does the greyhound panic when airborne, or is it built for it? Researching the answer—that the greyhound's entire physiology is designed for those suspended moments—became the emotional turning point of the devotion. The metaphor deepened: we, too, are built by God to move through the hard seasons, not just survive them.
Total study time for all three lessons on the greyhound: Just over an hour, but I kept stopping to pray because the Word kept meeting me right where I was, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Your turn: Pick any fact about the natural world that amazes or puzzles you. It can be an animal, a flower, or something else entirely. Ask God: What are You showing me here? Then open your Bible and go looking. Romans 1:20 tells us that "the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen." Creation is one long love letter from God, and He wants you to read it.