Sing

 

"The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." (Zeph. 3:17 NIV)

I had a very quiet Friday morning. Deb had assumed the role of Florence Nightingale to her sister that week and would be quickly enroute for Logansport. I conscripted her usual morning space for devotions in her absence - her desk faces the eastern sunrise. 

I started my bible reading this year with the major prophets along with the gospels: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mathew, Luke, and into Mark. Today: Lamentations or as some commentators rename it: the book of Lacerations, given its focus on the Fall of Jerusalem and depressing nature.

Lamentations...yes, it's a hard one to digest but it also has some great passages of hope. Lamentations 3:19-24.

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love [mercies], we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.'" (Lam. 3:19-24 NIV)

So, here I sit reading a very difficult book early in the morning. Eleven degrees outside. Being reminded of God's love and faithfulness in the midst of hardship and what does God bring to me? A bright red, male cardinal beautifully placed in the midst of glistening, frosted branches.

He sat at the top of a cherry tree that is right outside the office window. I couldn't ignore him. He sang...and he sang. I'm sure he was calling for some female company, but he reminded me of the words of Zephaniah (yes, dust that old one off): "[God] rejoices over me with singing." It's the only place in the scripture that describes God singing and it's in the context of those he loves. This, too, is a letter written to those about ready to go into judgment. 

I was talking with my neighbor, Ron, who knows all things neighbory and seems to be an expert on birds (birdologist) and he was telling me that during mating season the male actually feeds the female. He breaks open the husk of seeds and then feeds them to her. Then she kills him. Whoops, that's Black Widows and Drone Bees and Praying Mantis, and Bachelor Midges (appropriately named)...wow...girls are mean. From what I gather there is a fine line between flirting and fighting. I'm a guy. I keep telling Deb that I need clarification sometimes. 

The female cardinal is ministered to as she feeds and is serenaded by the male. A subtle reminder of God today. Singing in the midst of sadness. Hope in the midst of heartache. Thankfully, not in my current context but something always to be learned from the Word about God's character. 

He provides for me in ways that I'll probably never know, and he does something that, in the eyes of most, has nothing to do with my survival - He rejoices over me with singing. 

And He graces me with a songbird to remind me.