Sheltering from the heat of a hot 41° midday sun my wife and I enjoyed the sounds and sights of many birds feeding at a watering hole. For what seemed an age the most delicate of birds busied to and fro maintaining their fluid and nutritional intake.
At the same time we hid in the shade sipping from our water bottles. I was feeling weary and thinking about having to get up and venture to our next destination. That would mean coming out from under the shadow cast by the canopy protecting us.
Then I noticed the bird in the picture above. She had found the perfect perch. Near the water in the shadow of a rock. Because the rock is in the water it was damp – perfect. A short while passed. Rested she flew off to a tree and sang with joy.
That was a moment in the heat of the day when for me it was a delight to think of those words of Jesus, “Look at the birds they do not sow or store in barns….” It was a moment that reminded me of a wonderful image of God. The Psalmist writes, “…the children of mankind take refuge under the shadow of your wings.”
It’s not always the hot sun that saps our energy. Heartache, disappointment, unfulfilled hope and even loss can bring us to a place of needing to be shielded from the heat of life’s experiences.
I took from that little bird’s joyous song she sang after she had sheltered, paused from the heat-of-life experience that if I want to sing, I first have to shelter.
Rob Wykes 