A Small Reminder

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:26-27

My first memory of a hummingbird comes from my childhood. My paternal grandparents had two hummingbird feeders on their back porch. I can remember standing in the kitchen and watching my grandpa make the sugar solution for the feeders. He would heat up a small pot of water and add the right amount of sugar, plus just a bit of red food coloring. Then he would wash out the two feeders and refill them with the fresh solution after it cooled. I would walk out on the porch with him and watch as he hung the feeders up. Back inside it wouldn’t be but just a couple of minutes before a couple hummingbirds would show up at each feeder.

It was always pretty hard to see a hummingbird away from the feeders on the porch. There was a wilderness park along the river near their house. Our family would take walks there and I would look for the hummingbirds. I would look and look for them, but rarely saw any. A hummingbird is a very small bird and very hard to see way up in a tree. Sometimes I would catch a glimpse of one flying, but even that was pretty rare. They dart about so quickly that they would be gone before my eyes could even focus on them. I knew there had to be hummingbirds around because they would come to the feeders back on the porch. Yet based on the number of times I actually saw a hummingbird out in the park, I might have concluded they were a rare bird in danger of extinction.

Some time later I learned the sound a hummingbird makes. It isn’t a sing-song kind of call like a warbler or a bluebird. It sounds more like a chattering buzz. Learning to recognize the sound of the hummingbird changed my walks with family out in the wilderness park. The hummingbirds that I suspected must be around somewhere really were everywhere. I would hear the telltale buzz call and then strain my ears in the direction of the call. I would try to train my eyes on the spot to see the tiny little bird that was making so much noise. In all my efforts I still rarely saw a hummingbird, but I knew they were there. I could hear one or two every time I went walking.

I suppose it is easy to think about God in the same way I first thought about hummingbirds. When I depend on my eyes it is pretty rare to see Him working in the world. From time to time I hear about a friend of a friend who survived cancer with no good medical explanation; a miracle apparently. I hear a story from a missionary in a distant country, a story about lives spared in impossible circumstances. They are fleeting glimpses of God at work in the world. But the reality is that every day you and I are alive is another miracle of God’s grace and mercy. This is easy to forget when I get busy with work and relationships and hobbies. What I need is a reminder that God is present even when I don’t see Him working in a physically visible way.

Just recently I was out doing some shopping, and walked out of a store to return to my car. Right there as I was walking through the parking lot I heard the sound of a hummingbird. I didn’t even try to figure out exactly where the little bird was sitting. But that experience got me to thinking about God’s work in the world. I decided that every time I hear a hummingbird I am going to remember that God isn’t rare or distant. I realized that I just have to learn how to hear Him. And once I learn how to hear God, I am sure that I will begin seeing Him all around me in everything I do and experience.

[PhotoCredit:Noël Zia Lee & seanmcgrath & khsolomon]