"Down and Out in My Dining Room" Monday

#1 · April 18, 2005, 2:28 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 18, 2005, 2:28 pm
Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>
"Down and Out in My Dining Room"

I had a hummingbird trapped in my dining room today. I cranked the windows wide open and waited for the bird to fly out but nothing doing. I even tried to shoo it out waving my arms but that didn’t work either.

The problem was, every time the bird would try and fly, its instincts told it to fly upwards, so it would skate all over the ceiling, buzzing its wings furiously against it, chirping all the way until it would tire and come to rest on the curtain over the window or the light fixture. I left it alone for a while to see if it would eventually discover the open windows, but each time it took off to fly, it flew upwards and skated on the ceiling like before. It was frustrating — almost tragic — to watch it sit over the open window, catching its breath, oblivious to the fact that freedom lay only a few inches below. I finally succeeded in freeing it by literally sweeping the hummingbird off the ceiling with a broom. It took a number of tries, and it hit the window on the way out, but it flew off unharmed.

All the while I was doing this, I was trying to imagine what it would be like if I were that bird. I am aware that I am trapped, and I am trying to free myself the only way I know how, when this very large figure comes after me. I have absolutely no way of knowing that this giant thing, swatting at me with a broom, wants what is best for me; indeed, he is the only one who can set me free. And then this creature sweeps me off the ceiling and slams me into this invisible barrier, and it is only then, in my attempt to recover from that trauma, that I find I am suddenly free.

Is this not what happens to us with God? He throws some pretty scary stuff at us, and it’s hard to believe He has our best interests at heart. He may even be telling us to fly down, but we don’t hear Him, so He brings something into our lives that forces us down, and only then do we find that down was the way out.

What we have that the bird doesn’t have is a word from God that He is in control. Everything happening to us is happening for a purpose and we will see it someday, but in the meantime, it is for us to trust, and take what He sends our way as coming from His hand.

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:9)

John Fischer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WHY GRACE IS AMAZING"

Why do we call grace amazing? Grace is amazing because
it works against the grain of common sense. Hard-nosed common
sense will tell you that you are too wrong to meet the standards
of a holy God; pardoning grace tells you that it's all right in
spite of so much in you that is wrong.

Realistic common sense tells you that you are too weak, too
harassed, too human to change for the better; grace gives you
power to send you on the way to being a better person. Plain
common sense may tell you that you are caught in a rut of
fate or futility; grace promises that you can trust God to have
a better tomorrow for you than the day you have made for
yourself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two ways of spreading light,
to be the candle or be the mirror
that reflects it.

Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara

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Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

"Down and Out in My Dining Room"

I had a hummingbird trapped in my dining room today. I cranked the windows wide open and waited for the bird to fly out but nothing doing. I even tried to shoo it out waving my arms but that didn’t work either.

The problem was, every time the bird would try and fly, its instincts told it to fly upwards, so it would skate all over the ceiling, buzzing its wings furiously against it, chirping all the way until it would tire and come to rest on the curtain over the window or the light fixture. I left it alone for a while to see if it would eventually discover the open windows, but each time it took off to fly, it flew upwards and skated on the ceiling like before. It was frustrating — almost tragic — to watch it sit over the open window, catching its breath, oblivious to the fact that freedom lay only a few inches below. I finally succeeded in freeing it by literally sweeping the hummingbird off the ceiling with a broom. It took a number of tries, and it hit the window on the way out, but it flew off unharmed.

All the while I was doing this, I was trying to imagine what it would be like if I were that bird. I am aware that I am trapped, and I am trying to free myself the only way I know how, when this very large figure comes after me. I have absolutely no way of knowing that this giant thing, swatting at me with a broom, wants what is best for me; indeed, he is the only one who can set me free. And then this creature sweeps me off the ceiling and slams me into this invisible barrier, and it is only then, in my attempt to recover from that trauma, that I find I am suddenly free.

Is this not what happens to us with God? He throws some pretty scary stuff at us, and it’s hard to believe He has our best interests at heart. He may even be telling us to fly down, but we don’t hear Him, so He brings something into our lives that forces us down, and only then do we find that down was the way out.

What we have that the bird doesn’t have is a word from God that He is in control. Everything happening to us is happening for a purpose and we will see it someday, but in the meantime, it is for us to trust, and take what He sends our way as coming from His hand.

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:9)

John Fischer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WHY GRACE IS AMAZING"

Why do we call grace amazing? Grace is amazing because
it works against the grain of common sense. Hard-nosed common
sense will tell you that you are too wrong to meet the standards
of a holy God; pardoning grace tells you that it's all right in
spite of so much in you that is wrong.

Realistic common sense tells you that you are too weak, too
harassed, too human to change for the better; grace gives you
power to send you on the way to being a better person. Plain
common sense may tell you that you are caught in a rut of
fate or futility; grace promises that you can trust God to have
a better tomorrow for you than the day you have made for
yourself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two ways of spreading light,
to be the candle or be the mirror
that reflects it.

Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara

Necessary Legal Information

We do not mail idea-central unsolicited. If you are receiving this newsletter from us it's because you have subscribed to this mailing list. If you receive this newsletter and are not a subscriber then someone, other than us, has forwarded it to you.

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  --  To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: idea-central-unsubscribe@welovegod.org