“Hello Sunshine!”…I said as I stood on my bed to open my bedroom window as far as it would go without falling out…and then lay in the early morning sunshine that seemed to promise it would be a glorious blue sky day. The sun streamed in my window and warmed my skin as I eased in to the day with my daily reading and God time. I love days like this when I can be still and quiet and waken my mind to new ideas and plans. My attention drifted as I turned the page of my current devotional, to the sounds of life outside my open window….I thought of God and His creation, and the amazing bird song that filled the garden below.
A huge bumble bee buzzed loudly as it hovered at the entrance to my window, I stared at it intently, and it seemed to stare right back at me as it pondered what to do next. It was so big I am not even sure how those tiny wings actually kept it in the air at all. Finally I won the staring game and it buzzed off to leave me in peace, for if it had come in surely there would have been a contest between us, and I would have won.
Then the most incredible sound rose from the trees in my garden, a melody so beautiful filled the warm summer air. A lone voice with pitch and accuracy sang a song of frenzy and excitement.
It made me smile. I wondered what birds think as they sing? Do they think of the Creator who made them? Do they think of the next juicy worm they will catch? Do they wake up eager to fill those lungs with air and belt out those amazing tunes of life and celebration at the dawning of a new day?
I would like to think they do. I guess on a stunningly beautiful day like this, that a song is never hard to find. That it is easy to sing, with such enjoyable and peaceful surroundings as your stage.
No microphone was required, all that is needed is a branch and a key to start. And so it sang and I found myself staring at the incredible blue sky above.
Moments later I returned to the next page of my book and was soon lost in the challenges and truth of the writer and allowed my mind to be consumed with the lesson at hand.
Pages turned and minutes past, and a sound of a different kind drew my attention to the window opened wide beside me…a fresh cool breeze blew and the warmth of the sun vanished…I left my book aside and crawled up on to my window sill, just catching the final ray of sunshine as it disappeared behind a cloud….not just one cloud, but the largest thickest black cloud you could imagine. What a contrast to the scene I had last enjoyed. Just then the rain started, no subtle drops or gradual introduction, it came hard and fast upon an unsuspecting garden. I could smell it in the air…serious rain! The sun was nowhere to be seen, although shining above the clouds for sure. The rain was furious, racing down to kiss the earth, nothing was untouched, it pounded the pathway to the clothes line and bounced off the window sill, inches away from where I sat inside. As I looked I dragged a warm fleece blanket around me and just watched it, it kind of entertained me. I giggled and thought to myself how glad I was to be this side of the window pane.
It was a downpour, of monsoon proportions, huge drops that flattened the grass and weighed heavy on the leaves of the trees. The flowers and summer buds danced along with little choice or option as the rain clearly led the way. Soon came the loud thunder in the clouds, it almost commanded attention with its sudden outburst. I jumped a little as I didn’t expect it. But I still remained on the window sill, as if testing the elements. I was strangely relaxed on my own perch.
Then I heard it, a beautiful response, coming from the heights above me…in the tall trees near by…the birds still sang! Though everything had changed from a peaceful morning-glory to a darkened wet storm, the birds still sang! I dragged my legs close to me and wrapped my arms around them, huddled and warm and dry under my blanket, as the birds still sang in the rain. Their surroundings were harder now, it was not so easy to sing now as it had been moments ago. This was the kind of rain that would cause shoppers and cyclists to stop and take shelter in a shop or nearby bus shelter….but no, not the birds, they still found a reason to sing!
If anything they sang louder, as if in competition with this very wet imposter who dared to cause them to be silenced and flee for safety. They sang out the sweetest victorious refrain, and now there were many of them, all joining in together…all different pitches and squeals and twitters. It was magnificent.
I thought to myself, it is a lot like life….the storms come to try to silence the song in us. The rain comes suddenly at times, when we least expect it, and tries to cause us to run away and hide.
But I want to be like these birds, when the storms come, and they will my friend, I want to find a voice deeper with in me that will not be quiet, that will find a way to sing, no matter what I see!
I want to celebrate the rain as well as the sun, for each must come in order for there to be life.
In the storm I want to find strength, the kind of strength that rises from weakness, the kind of strength that finds a song come shine or come rain! The kind of strength that turns in to a song that rises from the lungs of a vessel that knows God is in control and will never fail, never!
I thought of those melodious birds, as the harsh rain drops pelted them on the head, yet they opened their beaks and sang their sweet song, despite the elements or circumstances that surrounded them. Were they taken by surprise by the sudden heavy rains? I doubt it, and even if they were, I think they would still have chosen to respond with their victory song. They know the One who looks after them, who feeds them and clothes them. They know the One who never lets them down, in every season of life. I want to be more like these beautiful songbirds, to sing in every season, a song of trust!
To choose to trust whether sudden or expected changes come my way. Whether I understand my circumstances or not, whether the morning brings joy or the night brings tears.
I know, I am sure you do too, strength is rising! I can hear you now, opening your beak (lips) to sing……=)
Written by Denise Kennedy
June 13th 2011
♣¸.•*”♣¸.•*”♣¸.•*” THANKS for the follow! =) NiseyK
Well…These recent days have been filled with a sense of loss and a deeper surrender than I have ever walked through before. It is easy to trust God when all your heart’s desires are just a heartbeat away…but when He is calling you to an ‘Abraham’ moment, or day, or life, it is not so easy to rise to the challenge and let go!
But that is where I am. And where He is standing beside me! With all this in mind, I surrender my Isaac on the altar of letting go! I found myself saying “OUCH! Lord!”…and the word OUCH says it all…My heart is hurting and I looked up and said “Lord, do you not care? Do you not see me, hear me, or feel the loss I do? Why do I seem to have to walk a path of learning to always let go?”…
For some (silly?) reason I went to look up the word OUCH in my dictionary application on my phone…
Read on…Here is the exact definition of OUCH…
~ A setting for a precious (of high price or great value; very valuable or costly: precious expensive or rare) stone ~
~ “Ouch!” is used in writing to represent the noise that people make when they suddenly feel pain. ~
~ The place for holding something excessively delicate, refined, or a precious gem ~
If you are not WOWED by now than read this…
~ (Ouch) An Old English word denoting cavities or empty places in which gems were set (Exodus 28:11).
~ “With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.” Exodus 28 v 11 (KJV)
…See what I mean? Ouches are a place for gems to be set… They resemble an empty place…A place that waits to be filled with something better…
They provide the perfect setting for a gold finish!! That even when we are “Ouching!”…we are still becoming a gem to be set in a place of gold! It will not be wasted. Pain and ouching will lead us to a place where the King smiles down, and declares that it is alright to weep, because we will shine like gold, as we come to Him and allow Him to reveal something precious from the ouch places in our lives.
So when I found myself asking the Lord if He cared at all? I soon was shown in a sensitive and loving way by my Master Craftsman that all will be revealed. That you and I are on His work table, where He is refining, and making the ouch places a sweet altar of surrender, where He will perfect His will in us and make us perfect gems set in gold. I want to be as gold to Him. I want to run the race set out before me, even when it hurts and I would rather retreat away from the heat of the refiners tools….
But then where would the precious gem or beautiful stone be set? We would never know what may have been created by the hand of the Master, unless we surrender to His loving care and the knowledge that He knows exactly what He is doing.
Dear God,
May I sit still enough for You to work. May I not choose to run away to happier days. May I surrender to You on painful days of loss or disappointment. May Your face be seen in me, as You craft me to be what You desire!
“Jesus Wept…”…. He is acquainted with grief…He is not afraid of our pain because He holds the balm that will heal us. He knows exactly the setting that is needed to make us beautiful, stunning and precious gems in a golden ouch! May our OUCHES be golden, simply because we choose to worship Him through every ouch that yesterday, today or tomorrow may bring!! For His glory and in the careful gentle grip of the best Jewelery maker the world has ever known or my heart could ever trust.
With love,
for the display of His choice!
XxX
NiseyK
╰☆╮╰☆╮..
Denise Kennedy❀ 