Musings122010, The Trust of a Little Bird; by John

The Trust of a Tiny Bird.

The town of Glen Allen is located on the East bank of Lake Washington in Mississippi. The lake is an oxbow of the Mississippi River cut off long ago by the Corp of Engineers. I loved that lake because the west edge was shallow with Cyprus trees growing far out into the water. In the summertime, the temperature of the lake rose high enough to make Black Bass seek the cooler water under the trees. I liked to use a Hawaiian Wiggler for bait because it was weedless and that's really important under the trees with lost limbs and knees bulging up out of the water to supply the roots with air. One still morning as I fished, I saw a fluttering way out toward the middle of the lake. It seemed to be moving in my direction. It aroused my curiosity, so I sculled my boat out into the sunlight toward the disturbance. When I neared it, I realized it was a small bird trying desperately to get airborne. I eased alongside the little black thing and scooped it up with my hand. It was a chimney swift. I noticed them a little earlier skimming along the surface. They lower their bills and take in a drink of water without ever touching the surface except with their lower bill. Apparently this one caught a riffle or for some reason flew a little too low. At any rate, it found itself in water with the shoreline far, far away, and it did the only thing it could. It tried to fly in the water!

That little bird with its big eyes seemed content to sit in my hand where it was warmed by the sun. I held it for a few minutes examining it carefully. For my fifteen years, I'd seen them in vast droves circling the smoke stacks in our town just before sundown, and one at a time would descend to its resting place. I marveled at how streamlined they were and how accurately they flew. Having seen them dipping water on the lake and rivers, I wondered how they could avoid being drowned. Now I am sure some do drown or become fish food, but that one in Lake Washington just enjoyed a ride on the seat of my boat next to me. When I was sure it was dry, I slipped my fingers under it and gave it a toss as high as I could and still be gentle. It took its opportunity and quickly disappeared in the distance. I watched it go.

God cares for chimney swifts. He cares for His entire creation. He looked at it and saw that it was good. I'm afraid we have all taken part in polluting it one way or another and most likely in many ways, but we don't have to stop loving and doing our best to care for it.

All of us, like that little bird find ourselves needing outside help from time to time, and we turn to so many thing. I use my spell-checker, my dictionary, my concordance, my computer, and myriads of other things to live out my life on earth. When times are toughest, I hope I can rely on God the way that little bird relied on me. I hope that I will show such trust in Him as that little bird did me when it comes time for me to leave this earth.

Jesus came to give us life, not to destroy it. Oh, yes, there has to be destruction, and God will do it because there are so many destroyers in the world who refuse God, but none who trust Him and receive Jesus as their personal Savior will have a single thing to fear, not even facing Almighty God! I said it before, it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of God, but it is a wonderful, comforting thing to step into His loving arms.

Isn't it a shame, tiny animals can trust us; yet, so many of us haven't trusted God? We can change that! We can trust Him! He built into us the capacity to trust Him!