In summer and winter, you can hear the “dee dee dee” of the black-capped chickadee around these parts. When it gets cold, you hear them less as they hide somewhere to stay warm.
They are social birds and are often seen feeding with nuthatches and other species. I’ve never seen them get aggressive at all.
Chickadees are fascinating to watch and friendly, too. With a little coaxing and some patience, many a chickadee has been persuaded to eat from a person’s hand. Their cute coloring, friendly nature and delightful song make them a pleasure to have around.
There are some other birds that we don’t have here but were common everywhere else I lived. Magpies are beautiful, with their black-and-white coloring, but they are also noisy and aggressive. They drive other birds away and dig in garbage. They have even been known to dive-bomb at people during the nesting season. Their shrill scream is somewhat less pleasant than the chickadee’s lovely little song.
Magpies are quite intelligent and learn to differentiate between people, and I am told they can be taught to talk.
Both birds have their place in the overall scheme of things. My preference for the chickadee over the magpie does not mean the magpie has less value. Everything has a purpose in God’s overall scheme.
Job understood that fact, even amid misfortune greater than most of us can comprehend. He was a prosperous man with a large family. In short order, all his children and their families were killed, and his wealth was stripped from him. How did he respond? With both grief and worship.
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:20-21 ESV
Even then his suffering continued. Satan was permitted to attack His health;
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:7-10 ESV
Here in the West, we are used to instant solutions to our problems. Perhaps we have lost sight of something very important. Perhaps suffering and discomfort have a purpose. Perhaps we miss out on much of what God has planned for us by our desire to live comfortable, secure, risk-free and pain-free lives.
Now I know that enduring magpies rather than enjoying chickadees hardly qualifies as suffering, but perhaps it suggests discontentment with God’s plan and a desire to put my own in its place. Maybe I will have to look at them with different eyes the next time I see them.
Until next time, I pray we all learn willingly to accept the good and the bad as part of God’s plan. God is worthy of trust and praise despite our circumstances.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
SUMMARY
My preference for chickadees over magpies made me wonder how often I want my plan instead of God’s. Like Job, may we accept both the good and the bad, because God is worthy of trust and praise whatever comes.
TAKEAWAY
Everything has a purpose in God’s overall scheme. What we prefer does not decide what has value.
Job met devastating loss with both grief and worship. He received the bad from God as well as the good.
Suffering and discomfort have a purpose. Wanting comfortable, pain-free lives could cause us to miss much of what God has planned for us.