The Voice

I think we have established in previous posts that I have cardinal issues. No I’m not saying my issues are more important than yours; nor am I saying that I have a problem with blushing. I simply adore redbirds.

Cardinals point me to God. When I first began to notice them in Virginia, it was their color and their unique heads that caught my eye. But I began to see them every day during my prayer time. More than once, not only there but in South Carolina as well, I’ve been deep in a painful or pleading prayer and opened my eyes or turned my head to see one sitting only a few feet away looking at me. I’ll be honest; it’s a little unnerving.

Once I established my little prayer corner on the back porch, I began to watch more than just birds. Rabbits and squirrels came to visit and hang out with the mourning doves munching on seeds. I became acquainted with a cardinal couple and their three little ones this spring. I have come to believe that this couple has been with us since we moved here over two years ago. (If you know different, don’t tell me.) They have become so accustomed to us that, if they are feeding and we open the shade or the door, they just look up and then continue eating. The female sometimes sits on my shepherd’s hook just outside the window and I talk to her very softly. She sits and listens.

Their unique one-note chirp has become so familiar to me that I will always stop what I’m doing and look around until I see them. Today I opened the back door and I heard one of them. They were not on the feeder, the ground below or in the live oak that I could see. But the voice was distinct. I watched the holly tree for several minutes and finally I saw the male jump on an outside branch from deep in the tree.

How many times have I desperately searched for signs of God in a decision I needed to make or a path I was about to walk? How often have I stalled, wanting to see a sign of God’s presence to make me more comfortable?

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah’s faith failed him and he fled from Jezebel’s threats. He left his servant at Beersheba and went a days journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed to die. A gracious God sent an angel to take care of him. Then he traveled 40 days and nights to Horeb. There God told him to wait for Him on the mountain. In verses 11-12, “…behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” And God was in the still small voice.

I need to remember that, while it’s great to see God in the big things, to see a path laid clear and straight and to know that it’s the way I’m supposed to walk, sometimes I need to just listen for the voice – the voice that assures me that I’m not alone, that I will be taken care of and shown the way when the time is right.