Baby Birdie

I was listening to a sermon late last night by Pastor Ken Klaus titled "Refusing Rescue"- it hit my heart. I want to share part of that message here because it meant so much:


Last Spring we had some sparrows build a nest in the joists of our deck. It was interesting to watch them make repeated trips... to see the vast array of materials they wove into the complex construction of their home. We made note of the eggs which were laid and when they hatched. And if we had been impressed by the couple's dedication in building a nest, that was apprentice work compared to the job of feeding four, small, continuously open mouths. All this we watched with growing enthusiasm, always waiting for the day when the little ones would take wing. Apparently there was someone else even more eager for flight than we were. One late afternoon I came home and found one of the birds on our patio. It was well-feathered, but unable to fly. Maybe he had been bold, maybe he had been bumped, I don't know. I do know he had left the nest too early. Looking at the fledgling and knowing the danger of staying in the open, my wife's heart went out and she said something like, "Oh, save the baby birdie." 

Right. Well, the baby birdie couldn't fly, but it could hop. For about five minutes I looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame, stooped over, trying to gently grab hold of 'baby birdie.' Well, I eventually managed to scoop baby birdie into my hands. Have you ever done that; held a baby bird in your hands? Do you remember the feeling? What do you recall? Me, what I remember more than anything else is the beating of that little heart. It shook that small body as it raced. I wondered how it could keep up that speed and I hurt for the small bird because it didn't understand I didn't mean it any harm... indeed, I was trying to save its life. 

So many people I know are that way. They are surrounded by dangers, difficulties, problems, pains, depressions, angers, jealousies, prejudices, sins. All these things threaten to destroy them and there's not a whole lot they can do to stop them. But God knows and recognizes every one of these crosses of life, and because He cares, through His Son, through the power of the Spirit, He reaches down and picks us up. He holds us safely in His protective hands. But we, like that tiny bird, simply don't understand. We don't understand God means no harm, He's not going to hurt us. On the contrary, He does what He does to help us. Which is why, today I encourage you, not to be more afraid of God's hands in your life than you are of the dangers from which He is delivering you. Do not fight Him; do not struggle against Him. 

Indeed, let Him give you a peace which goes beyond anything this world can give. Learn to say with your Savior: 'not as I will, but as You will." Join with the Christ in praying: "Thy will be done." And believe, no matter life's reverses; no matter the situation in which you find yourself, believe you will always be safe and secure in the hands of the Lord Who loves you. Today I invite you to trust the Lord. Do not stop the Holy Spirit from giving you that spiritual discernment which believes in God when He says "all things work together for good to those who love Him." Have confidence in Him when He says, "Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you." Trust Him when He says, "I am with you always." 


That is so true- I am that little bird, my heart is beating, my wings are flapping, and even though I am being held in the hands of the one who made me, I am still afraid.


I don't have to write much more. Because I have finally realized whose hands I am in. Who is holding me through this. There's no need to doubt. No need to be confused. But to know that I am safe and being delivered from these troubles.