When you need a defender
Ihave a pile of brown thrashers in a bush near my house right now.
WhenI first discovered the nest with eggs, I received a crash course in brown thrasherbehavior. I poked my nose into a bush to get a closer look, and the mama flewout making it clear that I was not to enter her air space. Her behavior caused meto have flashbacks of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, “The Birds.” This encounterhelped me realize I was not going to be snapping pictures of the little ones everyday like I did with a wrens’ nest.
Later when I researched brown thrashers, I learnedthey are territorial and fierce defenders of the nest. They have even beenknown to attack humans. Yeah, I got that. The picture I snapped above was done quicklyduring a brief time the mom was absent.
Inrecent days, I’ve been made aware of a story that concerns someone I’ve had theprivilege of meeting. She has a child who has profound developmental challenges.He was receiving care but needed assistance on a much higher level. The motherhas been unrelenting in searching for ways he could receive this care as the extraordinarycost was beyond her means. Years went by, and the parents separated under thestress of his care. But the mother never gave up on her child. Then one day,she received an unexpected phone call. The caller on the other end said, “I hearyou have a problem.” Before the mother could even engage, this person offered to pay for her son’s care thatyear. She couldn’t believe it. Her prayers had been answered. Within months ofarriving at the place she had wanted for him, her son began to experience dramatic improvement.That was years ago, and the provision for his care from someone who wanted to remain an anonymous benefactor is still coming. Godhonored the commitment of a fierce mom who continued to advocate for her son.
Thismother’s love points to the much greater love of the one who made us. God isalso our defender, our advocate, and His fierceness makes the brown thrasher’spale in comparison.
ThePsalmist David once wrote, “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense;I shall not be moved” (Psalm 62:6). David’s confidence in God’s ability toprotect and defend him even when he was fleeing for his life remained high. Oursshould, too.
Weare His children, and when we are desperate, when we are wronged, when we are misunderstood, when we are attacked, when we are between the proverbial rockand hard place, God is there. God is present. God is our defender. And He isfierce and unflinching. He is not turned back by any adversary, and He isalways ready to come to our aid.
Andlike the mother who never gave up, He will never abandon us or forget us.
Wecan find great comfort in embracing God as our defender.
Thebrown thrasher is the state bird of Georgia, and from the picture, it appears those littleones are getting ready to fledge which will help with the declining numbers of thespecies. With the brown thrasher's repertoire of more than one thousand songs and calls, thetrees are likely to fill with music around here. And I’d say that’s worth almostgetting pecked on my head.
var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24260977-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Beverly Varnado is the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. Her memoir, Faith in the Fashion District, from Crosslink Publishing is available wherever fine books are sold. Also consider her other books, Give My Love to the Chestnut Trees and Home to Currahee.To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.com Beverly Varnado copyright 2021
