Hawks & Sparrows

This afternoon, while planting seeds in my flower pots, I lifted my head and stared directly into the gaze of a red-shouldered hawk.  (That’s my best guess as to the species).  It was breath-taking.  He was resting on a branch, probably 25 feet away and directly in my line of vision.  And when we locked eyes, I was so startled that I burst out, “Hi!” 

He stared at me for a moment, then unfurled his wings and took off…and I ran after him to see if I could catch another glimpse. 

But he was gone.

I don’t know about you, but moments like that are so exciting.  Seeing the unexpected, like the fox that turned and looked at me right outside my window a few nights ago, or the clear night sky studded with diamond-like stars, just makes me think – life is beautiful! 

How often I must miss the wonderful, the delightful…because I am too busy looking at myself. 

In the past two weeks, I have been thinking about fullness of life.  My thoughts were really spurred on by a quote from yet another of the L.M. Montgomery books.  In this quote, a fellow teacher is describing Anne, and the reason for her bitterness/jealousy of her for the previous year:

“You come into a room delightfully…oh, how I remember you into school that first morning.  But I think the real reason I’ve hated you so is that you’ve always seemed to have some secret delight…as if every day of life was an adventure.  In spite of my hatred there were times I acknowledged to myself that you might just have come from some far off star”  (Anne of Windy Poplars, p. 150).

OH.  To be described as having a secret delight… facing every day as if it was an adventure…

And then it hit me.

Shouldn’t this describe every Christian?

I mean, if I really sit and think about it, Jesus has promised us abundant life.

“…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  John 10:10

And yet, instead of realizing that we are eternally secure, and that God provides us with everything we need (I Timothy 6:17-19; II Peter 1:3), we focus on what we think we are missing.  And we miss out on the adventure God has in store for us!

Sometimes, it just takes a glance from a hawk to snap us back into reality.  Life is beautiful.  And the One who feeds the sparrows is the same One who cares for us.  Why do we worry?  Life should be flowing out of us!  The Spirit of God lives in us and empowers us each day (Romans 8:11) if we only get ourselves out of the way.  Do people see our secret delight?  And should it be a secret?

So, may “I sing because I’m happy…I sing because I’m free…His eye is on the sparrow….and I know He watches me”.