Last summer, I walked through my garage and heard a noise coming from behind the window blinds. It sounded like an oversized bumblebee—or a miniature power tool. Along with the hum, I heard a tap, tap, tap. The little creature was beating itself to death against the closed window, when he only needed to back up and exit the way he came in—through the open garage door.
We have this problem every summer. No doubt, hummingbirds are attracted by anything red in the garage. They hover around my van’s taillight trying to discern if it’s a food source.
Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backwards. I could list many amazing attributes about this beautiful creature, but no matter how magnificent, its design is also limiting. One trait in particular—fear—causes the hummingbird to ignore its God-given instinct to simply back out of a situation it shouldn’t be in.
Horrified that the bird would tap the window until it died, I grabbed a rake. After several careful attempts to free the bird without stressing or injuring it, I guided it away from the closed window back to the open garage door. Was it relieved? I doubt a bird has the capacity to feel relief, but it went on its merry way, to the next red bloom or taillight that caught its attention.
Sounds familiar. How often do we insist on following a path in pursuit of something that turns out to be a counterfeit blessing, much like the taillight is to a hummingbird? We see the end of the path—the objective we’re after—so we keep beating our head against the invisible wall to reach it. Though we could take a step back and reassess our objective and the means to achieve it, we refuse to do so.
God grabs our shirttails and tries to rein us in. We try to wriggle out of His grasp.
“But, God, I see the prize. If I try hard enough, work hard enough, sacrifice enough, I’ll get there. Don’t pull me back. Here’s a better solution—Remove the invisible wall.”
Because we know best, right? And removing the barrier would be best.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
If you're in a tough situation that seems to have no solution, or you're pushing too hard to make something work, challenge yourself to take that step back into the arms of God—then trust Him for the answer.
“God always gives His best to those
who leave the choice with Him.” Jim Elliot
What have you had to completely trust God for that you’ve found difficult to have faith about?
If you have a prayer need, I’d love to pray for you. Please leave a comment or e-mail me confidential requests.
God bless,
Laura
© Laura Hodges Poole
Post shared from archives.
Hummingbird image courtesy of Christian Meyn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
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