After a long Midwest winter, I longingly look forward to springtime, which means my hummingbirds will return to my garden. I get out my feeders and go to Wal-Mart to stock up on hummingbird food. I carefully mix the powder with water and add some extra sugar because I know my birdies love the added sweetness. My husband and I also purchase some annuals for our flower boxes. The type of flower is not as important as the color, eye-popping red is guaranteed to be the perfect eye candy for the hummingbirds. Perhaps the vivid red delivers a sweeter nectar, but I'm not sure. With all my careful preparations in place, I received my reward. The sweet red juice brought the sweet sound of hummingbird wings. They had arrived!
I carefully positioned myself to observe these marvelous creatures enjoying a free feast provided by moi. Springtime had arrived and summer was coming quickly. However, I would soon be robbed of my joyful bird watching.
One morning as I looked out my window, I noticed that my feeder was completely empty.
Someone or something had drunk all the red juice. I quickly made another batch and filled my feeder once again. Perhaps, I thought, the wind and rain had spilled out the juice. This time I added more sugar just to make sure that my birds would thoroughly enjoy their food and tell all their friends about the super sweet taste. But once again, the next morning the feeder was empty. Now who was the culprit? Cats, bats, raccoons, coyotes and fox all frequent the woods behind our house. This required a plan. Each night just after dusk (which is a busy feeding time), I took my feeder in for the night. This plan worked for a few days until one evening I forgot to take the feeder in and sure enough it was empty in the morning. What was I to do? With paper and pen in hand I wrote myself a couple of large notes reading, "Bring in the bird feeder." and left them in conspicuous places around the house and this time and each day after I did not forget. Oh, I even found the culprit, which was a huge raccoon that I saw one evening at twilight (no vampires where I live) slowly scout my yard, deck and feeder. I was the conqueror and once again my birdies could delight in their nectar and I could delight in watching them.
Lesson learned: Many predators want to rob us of our joy, happiness and delight in the Lord. They may not look fierce (raccoons are kinda cute), but their sole purpose is to steal our bread of life, Jesus. We have to have a plan and remember it day after day. For me, most recently, when my joy in the Lord was taken away by the cynicism of others or my own sinful nature I needed to use the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) to thwart the schemes of the enemy. Also, I constantly needed to remind myself to do this and not try to manage any battle in my own strength. It was and is a lesson that I hope to remember everytime I hear the flutter of those hummingbird wings.
I carefully positioned myself to observe these marvelous creatures enjoying a free feast provided by moi. Springtime had arrived and summer was coming quickly. However, I would soon be robbed of my joyful bird watching.
One morning as I looked out my window, I noticed that my feeder was completely empty.
Someone or something had drunk all the red juice. I quickly made another batch and filled my feeder once again. Perhaps, I thought, the wind and rain had spilled out the juice. This time I added more sugar just to make sure that my birds would thoroughly enjoy their food and tell all their friends about the super sweet taste. But once again, the next morning the feeder was empty. Now who was the culprit? Cats, bats, raccoons, coyotes and fox all frequent the woods behind our house. This required a plan. Each night just after dusk (which is a busy feeding time), I took my feeder in for the night. This plan worked for a few days until one evening I forgot to take the feeder in and sure enough it was empty in the morning. What was I to do? With paper and pen in hand I wrote myself a couple of large notes reading, "Bring in the bird feeder." and left them in conspicuous places around the house and this time and each day after I did not forget. Oh, I even found the culprit, which was a huge raccoon that I saw one evening at twilight (no vampires where I live) slowly scout my yard, deck and feeder. I was the conqueror and once again my birdies could delight in their nectar and I could delight in watching them.
Lesson learned: Many predators want to rob us of our joy, happiness and delight in the Lord. They may not look fierce (raccoons are kinda cute), but their sole purpose is to steal our bread of life, Jesus. We have to have a plan and remember it day after day. For me, most recently, when my joy in the Lord was taken away by the cynicism of others or my own sinful nature I needed to use the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) to thwart the schemes of the enemy. Also, I constantly needed to remind myself to do this and not try to manage any battle in my own strength. It was and is a lesson that I hope to remember everytime I hear the flutter of those hummingbird wings.
I love the biblical analogies with that thief, Rocky Racoon (lurking in the night, scouting for opportunities to steal).
ReplyDeleteI am also reminded of the movie "Ray", where Ray Charles calls attention to hovering hummingbirds outside an open window. His lunch date had not even seen or heard them. Just like the hummingbirds, God' beauty is deep and rich, for those sensitive enough to perceive.