“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.”
James 1:22, MSG
I love that the Lord enjoys speaking in the most unique ways. His desire to develop a relationship with His children is such that He would go to the ends of the earth to grab our attention and pour out His love upon us. He is always speaking, in a variety of ways. Today, He spoke in quite a remarkable fashion.
I was sitting at my desk doing some editing, and my mind wondered as I glanced out of the open blinds in front of me. Do you ever do that – let your eyes follow the path of imagination? As I looked at the scene before me, the weeping willow limbs waved and danced in the slight breeze. They are just beginning to have a hue of green in the center of the tree as more of the branches begin to open their leaves with the changing weather.
The birds like to gather on the sturdier central limbs. I keep a bird feeder beside this tree, and I love seeing the birds gather around the rim of it eating the seeds. Today, they were mostly gathering in the grass directly underneath, as they have already emptied the feeder of its contents.
Bird-Watching
Millie, my dog, also loves birds. Really, what she’d like to do is catch one! So far, thankfully, she’s only sniffed them out as she runs circles in the yard. After her morning runs, I bring her inside and lift the blinds so that she can sit on the arm of the sofa and watch them in-between her frequent naps.
I failed to do this last Wednesday before leaving the house. The next day, while I was sweeping, I noticed there were two missing end pieces from the blinds. The ends were laying haphazardly on the floor. Millie had spent the previous day watching birds, and there was a tell-tale hole right at her eye-level. She’d broken them from blocking her view.
The Bird
As I was gazing at the small birds pecking at the ground in the fresh grass, a larger brown bird flew into my view. I was wondering if it might be the state bird of Georgia, so I took a moment to look it up as it perched on the railing of my deck outside. Google is a wonderful thing – always ready to help a curious girl like me!
I read about the brown thrasher, Georgia’s state bird. The bird on my deck rail had its back to me. Its long brown tail feathers shifted as it balanced against the breeze. I could sense a prodding in my spirit that is always present when the Lord is trying to get my attention.
I didn’t hear anything in particular from the Lord as I stared at this bird, so I glanced back at my screen. There I saw an option to hear the bird’s call. Clicking the play button, I heard the most amazing melodic trill come from the speakers of my laptop. Millie instantly heard it, too. She jumped up quickly from where she’d been lazing among my favorite blankets on the sofa. She looked out of her self-created peep-hole. That was when the Lord quietly spoke to me. “Be quick to hearken to My call.”
The Call
The very second the bird call sounded through my speakers, Millie responded. Instantly, she was on her feet, ready for action. This was the action that the Lord was prompting me about this morning. In whatever He calls me to do, I need to be quick to respond.
In Luke 11:28, Jesus spoke, “ . . . But God will bless all who listen to the Word of God and carefully obey everything they hear” (TPT). What blessings are we lacking? Have we carefully obeyed what we last heard Him command?
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If you will, let this story be a wake-up call for each of us to respond promptly to His directions for our life. Your call may look different from the call of those around you, and that is perfectly fine! It takes each of us doing our part to spread the love of Jesus and His Good News to every corner of the earth. But, what an exciting adventure to be about His personalized mission for us! You see, this life is fully-lived when in constant communication with our Creator.
Oh, how He wants to work through you! He is calling to you! Do you hear Him? Let’s not be like one who looks in a mirror and then, as quickly, forgets what we look like. Respond promptly to His call, for there is much excitement in the plans He has for your future!
“Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.”
Jeremiah 33:3 (MSG)
Read more from this author, in her book, Believing for a Miracle.
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So good!