Category: Birds

  • Grey Days

    Even Christians can have down days

    two wet magpies in the rain

    It’s a grey and gloomy morning. The rain is drizzling, and the sky  is threatening to open up even more. Each morning, more of the leaves have begun to change color. It isn’t cold yet, but it feels every bit as autumnal as the calendar says it should.

    The few birds that are around are all fluffed up and hunkered down. They look very unhappy. None has even bothered to come over to the feeders.

    Life can be that way. Even devout Christians can have grey, down, depressed days.

    There is this myth in the faith that we must always be upbeat and happy. It’s as if we feel that by admitting our struggles, we will bring disaster upon ourselves or appear less than holy. We worry that fellow believers will look down on us if the walls we have created crack even slightly.

    My friends, this should not be so. The body is designed to enable us to help one another through the power of the Spirit.

    Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2

    A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35

    I’m not suggesting that you open the flood gates on every struggle, every sin, to everyone. There must be some level of discernment.

    When we’re not honest with each other, we steal from one another. We rob others of the opportunity to minister to us. We rob ourselves of being ministered to. We rob God of the glory due to His name.

    We are broken, weak, flawed vessels of God’s grace. That’s no surprise to God, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that our brothers and sisters in Christ face struggles as well.

    He is glorified in our weakness and brokenness because He is the one who brings healing and wholeness.

    But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

    It’s okay to have gray days and struggles. It’s good to share them. Our witness is magnified when we can praise God through the struggles.

    Until next time, let’s learn to trust God and one another.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

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  • Out of the Blue – When the unexpected happens

    merlin in crabapple tree

    The robin was suddenly smacked with a bolt out of the blue. A  merlin (a type of small falcon) dropped, seemingly out of nowhere, and knocked it out of the air. They both hit the ground with a thud in front of me, and there was a brief flurry of feathers.

    The strike must have been a little off target as the robin flew away while the merlin flew up into the nearby crabapple tree. It sat there for a few moments, looking a little stunned.

    Score: Robins: one, Merlins: nil. This time.

    Sometimes, life can be like that. We are cruising along, living life as usual, when some major problem hits us out of the blue. There is no warning at all, at least none that we noticed.

    It can come as a job loss, an illness, a marital breakdown, a death in the family, an economic collapse, or any of ten thousand or more different scenarios. Whatever the problem, it leaves us shaken and stunned.

    We wonder what happened. We wonder where God is in the midst of it all. We wonder how, or even if, we will survive.

    We begin to realize that we aren’t as much in control as we had imagined. In truth, there is very little that we do control. We’re not the center of the universe, and not everything falls under our purview. 

    That’s actually a good realization to have, even if we came to it the hard way.

    Jesus spoke on that subject.

    “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-31

    Remember when times of testing come (and they will), God is in control. He knew about it before it happened, even if it seems out of the blue to you. 

    We can trust Him, no matter what we face. The outcome might seem uncertain to us, but the one who holds the stars in His hands has our backs.

    Even when circumstances are hard, God is good.

    To paraphrase a Bobby McFerrin song,

    Here’s a little song I wrote

    You might want to sing it note for note

    Don’t worry, trust Jesus.

    In every life we have some trouble

    When you worry you make it double

    Don’t worry, trust Jesus

    Don’t worry, trust Jesus.

    Until next time, no matter what comes your way, remember that God is there for you.

    Kevin

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