FAITH TO EXPECT

As spring has emerged I have made time for my favorite pastimes and that is gardening. I think it is important to have something that you can do alone that will allow you to unwind and to be at peace and gardening is that for me. I love to garden, it relaxes me and it is also good exercise. But most importantly I know that it feeds the nurturer in me. I take delight in planting a seed, watering it and then watching it grow and bloom. And I am thankful that I am able to see the fruits of my labor as I work from home and my office is directly in front of my garden. I have planted flowers in front of my office window that attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and dragonflies. My flowers reappear each year with splendor and glory, and watching the butterflies bounce from plant to plant is an absolute joy for me while I work. Well, it seems that each year I also have another individual that enjoys the harvest as well, a hummingbird. You see around blooming season each year the hummingbird swoops in to inspect my flowers. It is fascinating to watch the hummingbird fly in each day, swoop down and hover over the flower until the blooms are ripe enough for him to peck and partake of the succulent juice. It’s like he knows that one day he will find a harvest. Watching him each day I began to relate to the “expectation” of that hummingbird. As I have that same sense of expectation in my own life. I am sure you too can relate. You have been toiling, waiting, praying, and watching, asking God for a harvest in a particular area of your life, or for particular people, situations or issues, and you are wondering when you will see the harvest. And sometimes you began to feel that He does not hear your hunger pains or see that you are thirsty in this barren land. I think there is a lesson here. This hummingbird knows just where to go each year to receive his blessing and he shows up with a sense of expectation. He knows that he will find the sustenance he desires and needs in its due season. What I have seen from this hummingbird Jesus discussed in Matthew 6:25-32,

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“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

You see the hummingbird is not worried about how and what it will eat as his provision has been made thru me. Remember, I purposely planted seeds specifically to attract and feed him. Can you imagine how excited that hummingbird feels when he sees the blooms? I'm sure sheer joy! So I ask if God can provide for a creature as simple and small as the hummingbird of the sky, what will He provide for His most highest and prized creation?

What I learned from observing this hummingbird is that we first must be faithful, be thankful, and diligent in tour expectation of reaping of our harvest. It may seem at times as though the seeds that we have planted may be dying or will never produce a harvest; but we cannot lose faith and grow weary. We have to be confidant in the our Father that He is faithful to His Word that we will reap what we have sown. After all He is the Almighty and All-knowing God who is able to deliver, heal, and set us free; He possesses the power to restore and heal our barren land. We just have to have faith to believe with the same level of determination and patience as that hummingbird. We can never stop “hovering with expectation” as we will reap our harvest in “God’s Due Season” if we faint not!

​“[all creatures] look to you to give them their food in due season; you open wide your hand and satisfy the needs of every living creature.” Psalm 104:27.

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