Hummingbirds and Burning Bushes
So today I spent some time again at Pathways Retreat. I went out to the wildflower meadow. As I settled in, I shared with God how nice it would be for Him to bring me the gift of a hummingbird today. I'm not sure what it is about hummingbirds but I love watching them dart around with their wings humming away.
My focus during this time of solitude was simply to be with Jesus and pay attention. As I've shared earlier - I've been studying Moses in the book of Exodus as well as the book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. I was letting Moses' example in Exodus 3:2-3 guide me: 2Then the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn't the bush burning up?
So I sat back and paid attention. There were plenty of insights that God gave me. I wrote them down, and I kept paying attention.
Well into my time of solitude, God gave me a gift. He gave me a hummingbird. It zipped right into my area making it's humming noise with it's wings. Yes, a big grin came across my face. There's one even now as I think about it. I took a great deal of time to thank God for all of His many gifts in my life.
A little while a later I noticed the humming noise again. And again - there was another hummingbird. This one stayed close for a while so I paid close attention. It was in this moment that God helped me understand the importance of solitude and paying attention to my relationship with Him.
We live our lives a lot like hummingbirds and bumble bees. We buzz back and forth and through life, but how closely are we paying attention? If you or I were Moses - would we have noticed the burning bush? Do we notice the burning bush and hummingbird moments of our lives? Those moments when God is trying to get our attention.
Ann Voskamp rightly asks, "How many moments of my life have my eyes been wide open, but I've been rushing, racing, sleeping right through them." Moses was able to pay attention partly because he had pulled away from the chaos of life to the solitude of the wilderness. When he did, he had a divine encounter, a holy moment.
I had a holy moment today in some woods just north of Goshen. My divine encounter started with the wish for a hummingbird. My holy moment came with a grin as well as a gentle whisper from the Creator of the Universe. he also happens to be my Father who loves to give good gifts to me, His child. I want to spend my life well by paying attention and noticing the holy, ordinary moments and gifts God loves to give. So I'm going to build more solitude into my life. It's there that I can develop the gift of paying attention. And I can carry that gift with me wherever I go.
