Day 1:
In quietness and trust I find strength
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “…In quietness and trust is your strength…” (Isaiah 30:15).
I did not realize the window was ajar until I heard the furious fluttering and glimpsed the frenzied flying from the corner of my eye.
The massive windows in the house where I lived for a time with my aunt and uncle were a magnet for these birds. They always seemed to soar away just in time, although occasionally one would hit the glass with a horrible thud. (This was before the days of the Internet with its heaps of advice on making your windows “bird-safe.”)
Somehow, this one had flown through the small opening straight into the kitchen where I sat with my books. I honestly don’t know which of the two of us was more frightened. I wanted to help the poor thing, but the frantic flapping unnerved me. Although I admired birds from a distance, I had never been too comfortable with them up close. To add to my hesitation, forgotten snatches of village talk about" bird-lice” and other bird plagues surfaced from my rural past.
Caught up in my clumsy tangle of fright, misgiving, and uncertainty, I edged towards the frightened bird, hoping to usher it out through the open window. But as I moved tentatively forward, I somehow managed to startle the poor creature into a sudden nosedive. Before I realized what was happening, I heard a sickening final flutter, and found myself looking down at a mangled mess of torn flesh, and blood and feathers. And a smug, grinning Charmaine.
So intent had I been on the bird, and its plight, and my own apprehension, I had failed to notice the cat lurking, waiting, and finally pouncing. My sobs and shrieks could not expel the guilt, shock, and remorse I felt, and the broken feathers I picked up from the floor lodged in my head and littered my dreams for months.
So much for good intentions! It was not the first, or the last time in my life that I tried to “fix” a situation and ended up creating disaster.
Reminds me of Sarai (later Sarah), in Genesis 16. She had been waiting for a child, an heir of promise, for a very long time. Earlier in Genesis 15, we read a full account of the promise God had made to her husband Abram (later Abraham): “…The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless…You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:1-5).
God had ratified the promise with a detailed and specific covenant (Genesis 15:8-21), but several years had passed and the couple had still not conceived the promised child. As Sarah saw her chance at pregnancy dwindle away with advancing age, she hatched a plan to “help” God’s promise along. She came up with a “surrogate solution” (Genesis 16:1-15).
The plan succeeded wildly and failed spectacularly. Yes, Hagar, Sarah's servant conceived a son, but difficulties arose immediately and stretched forward into time. In the immediate, strained relationships and terrible tension created havoc at all levels of the “not so blended” family—between Sarah and Hagar—between Abraham and Sarah—and later, between Ishmael and Isaac. And in the long run, the fallout from Sarah’s “fix” reached forward centuries into the future (Genesis 17:19-21; 21:8-20; 25:12,18).
Not all our messes create the same type of long-term repercussions as Sarah’s. But misguided intentions, a need for control and/or a lack of trust could cause us to end up with flying feathers, broken birds, and painful or unnecessary options instead of the wisdom of God’s direction.
I pray for the courage and compassion to step in and take action where needed; yet at the same time the wisdom and discernment to "butt out" where I would only get in the way of growth, or of God's plan and agenda. And I pray for the trust I need to "wait patiently for the Lord" (Psalm 40:1).
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