Where Did You Find God Today?

Fort Worth gets winds- gusty winds that whine through my windowsills like a stubborn child in a tantrum. Incessant.  It seems to last forever.  Actually this time, it has been going on for three days.

Before the latest winds hit, I put up a little bird feeder on the tree outside my patio. It was on sale and so was the seed. Within 24 hours I heard the cheeps and saw two finches perched on it, announcing to their feathered kin and friends that they had found free chow. Then a few sparrows, and my favorite, the timid turtle doves appeared.

While writing at my computer, I noticed the little feeder tilting in the wind. On it clung a determined purple finch, timing its pecks to the gusts. It’s little feet curled tightly around the pole. Wings flapped to maintain balance. But, no matter what, that tiny bird was staying on that feeder so it could have the seeds. As the feeder tilted, some of the seeds fell to the ground, greeted by opportunistic doves below.

I smiled – that’s me on that feeder.

If you picture at the feeder as God’s blessings and the winds as life, can you see the analogy?

Life can get a bit gusty and wobbly at times. We cannot control the winds of change. But we can redirect our sails. That is what a magnet on my fridge that my late mother gave me states.

God gives us abundant blessings. We, though, have to choose to ingest them into our life. When our world turns gusty and we feel tossed about a bit, we can still cling to those blessings.  That takes determination and tenacity. But God continues to provide – that feeder of blessings will never empty all the way.

And here is the best part. When others see us clinging on, a bit of those blessings may spill their way as well. People gather around a person who perseveres. They watch and ask, “How do they do that?”  Our tenacity and can-do attitude attracts others. Just remember to tell them whose feeder you are on and why. You never know where those seeds of blessing will fall.

And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.   (Matthew 13:3-8 ESV)