Morning Dew Drops

The Robins Are Back
Did you know that a Christian’s life is like a tea bag? It is no good until it has been through some hot water.
The lawn had been watered the previous day. In the morning, there were fifty or more robins feasting on fresh worms.
Suddenly, a dark shadow overhead alerted them to danger. They flew quickly to find safety in the neighbour’s trees. One of them, in its haste to escape, flew into the glass railing around my deck. Down for the count, it seemed.
Moments later, the dark shadow came again. Racing to the door to save the injured bird, I frightened the shadow away but just for the moment. It came back and was trying to swoop down and take the hurt bird as its next meal.
I chased it away with a broom but knew that the injured bird did not have a chance for survival. Need-ing to leave for church, I quickly devised a plan of protection with a large pail inverted over it and a weight on top of it. I felt I could now leave.
It was then that God showed me a parallel to our faith. We are all subject to injury, sorrow, fear, and consequences we cannot manage alone. It is then that we are called to protect one another: the in-jured, the frail, the helpless, and the wounded.
We intervene in appropriate ways that will sustain life and faith for a time. We pray, listen, show mer-cy, encourage, and protect while the healing begins and continues.
Is there someone to whom God is asking you to minister? Maybe you are walking with them through a valley.
When I got home, I went directly to the pail covering the bird and tentatively lifted the pail to set the Robin free.
To my delight, it lifted to the top of the rail and flew unimpeded back to its own world. The menacing shadow was now gone, and the creature in peril was set free.
The shadow had been a huge, aggressive raven. Sometimes we too have shadows that ground us, and like the robin, we are perishing in silent terror. God’s far better plan is that we are nurtured by the comforter, the Holy Spirit. When we are given a nod by God, we are to step in, making ourselves avail-able in any way we can.
Prayer and the ability to listen and not have all the answers is a gift to folks in need or any one of us at any time.
In life groups, we meet to support one another, understanding our vulnerabilities and strengths. As a body of believers, we can help the robins in our lives. We surround them with a shield while they are recovering so they too can fly again.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives and the release from darkness for the prisoners. Isa. 61:1

Education is a wonderful thing, but it does not go far enough. It merely teaches a man how to speak, not when or for how long.