When Life Gives You Manure…

I recently heard a story that goes something like this:

There once was a little bird that was flying south for the winter and got caught in a snowstorm.  As snow landed on his tiny wings, it melted slightly, then quickly froze, causing the bird to fall to the ground.  As he sat helpless and shivering, encased in ice, the bird thought to himself (to be spoken in a little bird voice), This is the end.

To make matters worse, a cow wandered toward the freezing bird and—wouldn’t you know it?—deposited a stinking pile of manure on top of the bird. (I know this is gross, but there is a point to it.  Hang with me).

The bird panicked, horrified at the thought that he was going to freeze to death, covered in manure.

But slowly, the warmth of the manure caused the bird to thaw out.  He fluttered his newly freed wings and began to chirp with joy!

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” he sang.

That’s when a cat, drawn by the chirping, ran over, dug out the bird…and ate him.

Maybe you’re reading this and you want to shout at me, “Dude! You’re just weird!”  I understand (but God made me this way).

Or maybe you were reading along and you wanted to shout, “Yeah! That’s exactly what my life feels like.  Just when things start to get better, the bottom drops out or stuff falls on my head.  My life is just one disaster after another.”

I understand, and I hate when life feels that way.  But God promises that He is at work in all things.  Even the bad things.  And if we will trust Him during the dark times, He can bring blessings out of the pain.

Do you believe me?

Well, back to that dearly departed bird.  You see, this story of courage and calamity teaches three very important lessons.  Hope you didn’t miss them:

1.       Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.

2.      Not everyone who digs you out of manure is your friend.

3.      When you are in manure, keep your mouth shut.

Allow God to give you eyes to see His purpose in your experiences—all of them!  It is there if you look closely enough.  And when you see it, you’ll find your experiences pointing the way to God’s plan for your future.  His will for your life is driven by an unconditional, passionate, never-ending LOVE for you.

 

*From Craig Groeschel’s book, Chazown. p. 69-70.