Try learning Romans 8:32 by heart and don’t be like the hummingbirds. Ingrain it in your soul and remind yourself daily that there is indeed enough of the love of God for everyone – including you.
Obedience sure doesn’t come easy to us, does it?
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and I remember last summer when my friend Francie and I – we were looking out on my backyard patio, watching a real dog fight – no, not between canines, but between hummingbirds. I mean, these two little guys were fiercely fighting and flying over the hummingbird feeder. And what was strange is, there were two feeders hanging from my eave, both of them full. I mean, there was enough syrup to fatten 500 hummingbirds! But, no, these two kept battling – with neither enjoying the syrup. Actually, later that summer, near autumn, it was so funny to watch this one little brown hummingbird who staked his claim over our Mexican sage bush outside the backyard fence. I mean this guy would sit right on the top of the fence and just wait. And if another hummingbird so much as dared come close to that bush, it was buzz-zzzzz! These little birds only have so much energy, and it was a sorry sight to see them expend all of it on fighting.
And Francie kind of looked at them and said, “Can’t you guys just get along?!” And as we watched those little birds, it made me think of the way we act at times. We would never admit it, we would hardly recognize it of ourselves, but we’re so territorial; so competitive. We stake our claim over some project at work or at church and in very subtle ways, we make everybody know that that’s our baby; that’s our thing, that’s our domain which we call the shots. Why do we do this? Well, appearing more than 1,000 times in the Bible, the word “heart” can have a broad range of meanings, but at its core are our motivations. We’re simply territorial creatures. Defensive, protective, even selfish – especially over our friends. The heart’s root motivation is “I want.” “I want control, I want recognition, I want to have the final say.” A little like a hummingbird!
Contrast this with Romans 8:32 where it says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” I mean, that Bible verse is all about giving and giving to the point that it hurts, that Christ even died. And if God did that, why wouldn’t he give us everything we need? There’s an abundance of grace and opportunity available, so quit protecting your turf: Take the spotlight off yourself and put it on someone else. Let the credit go to another. Let some other person give the answer, rather than you. Let a young leader step to the foreground while you step back. Because your security doesn’t lie in a project or even getting validation from other people. Let your heart be satisfied in God and all that he has given you. Let his abundance of grace uproot every defensive and territorial motive you might muster. Learn a lesson from the hummingbirds.
And try learning Romans 8:32 by heart. Ingrain it in your soul and remind yourself daily that, “He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” That’s a promise. Hey, both birdfeeders are full. That is, the reservoir of God’s grace and provision is overflowing on your behalf. There is indeed enough of the love of God for us all. And that’s your hope-filled word today here on Sharing Hope.
© Joni and Friends