Kamikaze Birds
It had been a nice weekend getaway but Mike had to leave early for work. He said goodbye, jumped in the car, and headed in to town. The drive would take a couple of hours so he decided to use the “free time” as preparation for the day. He had two whole hours of much needed refocus and prayer time ahead. Not bad for a start to the morning.
Ten minutes into his drive and prayer Mike heard a huge “THWOP!” and pulled the car over to see what had happened. There in his grill was a gnarled mess of feathers.
“Stupid bird,” Mike said. Not the most pleasant thing to deal with. He pulled it out with much disgust and got back on his way.
Once in the car he got back to praying and tried to refocus on his objective for the morning. He knew he needed this quiet time with God. Like many of us, there were many things going on in his life that he wanted to check in with God about.
Not ten minutes went by and there was another “THWOP!” at the front of the car. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mike thought. He got out again, pulled the junk from his grill and got back in his car but before he started to drive he had one thing to say to the Adversary making use of this trouble.
“You know what? I could hit every bird between here and Olympia and I'm still going to do this!”
I think I feel like that with life. Things seem to be going well, life is hard but good, and I’m trying to keep focused on God and my relationship with Him when out of nowhere comes an idiot bird kamikaze style. It’s messy, damaging, distracting, and just plain annoying. I get back on the road, try to recover the best I can and along comes another mess.
Keeping my relationship with God current is so important. It's what helps me handle those messes. 2 Timothy 1:6 tells us to, “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in [us]…. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” A friend sent that verse to me and it’s stuck with me ever since.
Curly in the movie City Slickers said something else that stuck with me. He asked the guy who was lost in life what his One Thing was. What is the one thing you would think of first in a life or death moment? What or who do you run to in a time of crisis? That’s your One Thing, the most important thing in your life. I have to work at making God my “One Thing.” What’s yours?
I need to remember, like Mike did, that I have to be determined in my focus. There is nothing more important, nor steadying, than keeping my relationship with God healthy and strong. I even have to be ready to fight off the distractions before they come my way. I’m not just working on my defense by spending time with God, replenishing my soul. I’m working on my offense, too. I can only be a worthy opponent when God is close to my side. I pray I can remember that when the next kamikaze comes my way.
Ten minutes into his drive and prayer Mike heard a huge “THWOP!” and pulled the car over to see what had happened. There in his grill was a gnarled mess of feathers.
“Stupid bird,” Mike said. Not the most pleasant thing to deal with. He pulled it out with much disgust and got back on his way.
Once in the car he got back to praying and tried to refocus on his objective for the morning. He knew he needed this quiet time with God. Like many of us, there were many things going on in his life that he wanted to check in with God about.
Not ten minutes went by and there was another “THWOP!” at the front of the car. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mike thought. He got out again, pulled the junk from his grill and got back in his car but before he started to drive he had one thing to say to the Adversary making use of this trouble.
“You know what? I could hit every bird between here and Olympia and I'm still going to do this!”
I think I feel like that with life. Things seem to be going well, life is hard but good, and I’m trying to keep focused on God and my relationship with Him when out of nowhere comes an idiot bird kamikaze style. It’s messy, damaging, distracting, and just plain annoying. I get back on the road, try to recover the best I can and along comes another mess.
Keeping my relationship with God current is so important. It's what helps me handle those messes. 2 Timothy 1:6 tells us to, “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in [us]…. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” A friend sent that verse to me and it’s stuck with me ever since.
Curly in the movie City Slickers said something else that stuck with me. He asked the guy who was lost in life what his One Thing was. What is the one thing you would think of first in a life or death moment? What or who do you run to in a time of crisis? That’s your One Thing, the most important thing in your life. I have to work at making God my “One Thing.” What’s yours?
I need to remember, like Mike did, that I have to be determined in my focus. There is nothing more important, nor steadying, than keeping my relationship with God healthy and strong. I even have to be ready to fight off the distractions before they come my way. I’m not just working on my defense by spending time with God, replenishing my soul. I’m working on my offense, too. I can only be a worthy opponent when God is close to my side. I pray I can remember that when the next kamikaze comes my way.
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