Hummingbird Wings

 

               Photo: wallpapercave.com

      Today a tiny hummingbird's appearance out my window lifted me right up out of my "chair of prayer" (which more often than I like to admit becomes a chair of self-pity). You see, I had been contemplating my bird feeder, recently emptied by audacious squirrels, thinking it was time to exchange it for the hummingbird feeder. But I had not acted on the urging, until I saw that hummingbird pause there and then move on. I exclaimed, "You remembered!" then popped out of my chair to head to the kitchen to make nectar, then outside to resurrect and clean cobwebs off the glass feeder. 

      I began contemplating how those delicate wings were actually so powerful. Specially constructed to enable them to hover, fly backwards, forward, sideways, and even do back flips to gather nectar among flowers, the amazing creature had also lifted my 125 pounds of dead weight without even touching me or knowing it had done so! 

      I wonder how often we touch someone, totally unbeknownst to ourselves. Is it for better or for worse? Could a smile in a grocery line or a happy tune hummed in a parking lot remind someone that they are loved and maybe things aren't so bad as they seem? Could a frown or a grumble spread discontent instead of joy? 

      That hummingbird was oblivious to me-- he was just going about his work. I think of people who lift me up just by going about their work for God's earthly kingdom. I don't tell them usually, so they're probably not aware, how much they inspire me daily. They all have challenges-- who doesn't? Just like the hummingbird, who must wait for me to fill the feeder, who each year patiently and determinedly travels miles as he migrates to and from Central or South America each Fall and Spring. I've only just learned that hummingbirds can't actually walk on those spindly legs-- they can only perch and scoot along the ground or a branch! Who knew these tiny marvels have a handicap just like we all do?

      For this overcoming spirit, hummingbirds have an inordinately large heart. Ah, who can be surprised by that really? Isn't it the heart, the courage of certain people that makes them overcomers in spite of obstacles great or small? Just the thought of it makes me smile this glorious Spring day! 

      "Haven't I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  [Joshua 1:9 CSB]

 

      "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." [Isaiah 40:31 KJV] 

"He must increase, and I must decrease."

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Gethsemane

   

Garden of Gethsemane

      I sat and wept beneath the gnarled branches of an ancient olive tree in this garden where Jesus spent His last hours. I shed tears for my sins and the world's rejection of Him; He sweat His blood, a foretaste of the blood He would shed in a few hours to cover the sins of all mankind for all time. I said "I'm sorry"; He said "Not my will, but Thine." I looked at the stones beneath my sandals and wondered, "Did Your foot touch these very stones, my dear Savior?" He looked down on me and said, "I did this for you, my child."

      This peaceful garden, on a hillside overlooking the Holy City of Jerusalem, appropriately bears a name indicative of suffering. Gethsemane is a combination of two Hebrew words meaning "olive press." In order for the olives to bring forth their precious oil they must first be crushed, and then pressed beneath a heavy stone slab, forcing the oil to drain into a collection vat. What's left behind is a formless pulp, useful only as fuel for a fire. 

"Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned."  (John 15:6 NIV)

      Extreme pressure creates the golden oil, used not only for cooking and eating (nourishment), but also for making fuel for lamps (light), the anointing oil used by priests (healing), and even for soap and skincare (purification). But pressure is painful. I try to imagine the pressure Messiah Jesus felt as he bore the weight of all the world's sin, past and future, and I cannot. It was painful enough to make Him sweat drops of blood. Yet it was God's plan from the beginning: to come Himself, because there would be no other Perfect Lamb. 

      

      In his instructions for the first Passover, God through Moses directed,"Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats."  (Exodus 12:5 BSB) And so when John the Baptizer first laid eyes on Jesus alongside the River Jordan, he aptly declared, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  (John 1:29 NKJV) Little did John know of the troubles that would follow for this Perfect Lamb before His mission could be accomplished.

      Do you feel crushed by pain and suffering-- your own or that in the world around us? Take heart, fellow pilgrim. Let the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ keep you strong yet submissive under the crushing weight of this fallen world. Let the pressure you experience bring forth nourishment, light, healing, and purification. Let's not give in to the pain of the process so as to be thrown with the pulp into the fire and burned up. With Paul, let us victoriously declare: 

"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are

 perplexed, but not driven to despair." (2 Corinthians 4:8 NLT)

     I wonder, when I am pressed on every side, is it the oil of the Holy Spirit which pours out of me giving forth nourishment, light, healing, and cleansing?

"As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands." 

 (Psalm 119:143 NLT)

      PRAY WITH ME: Every pain I have is nothing, compared to yours, Lord. Every sorrow I have is nothing in light of yours. Forgive me, Lord, for taking Your sacrifice for granted. Give me grace to endure the "momentary light affliction" of this earthly life. In Jesus' name and for Your glory, Amen.

 "He must increase, but I must decrease"  (John 3:30)

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