Doggedly Persistent or Blindly Stubborn

Spring has sprung!  Finally!

Flowers are blooming.  Pollen is in the air.  And our friendly neighborhood bluebird is trying to come inside the house.

Every morning, she sits on our bedroom windowsill and sings.  And taps.  And rams into the window.  Repeatedly.  It was cute the first couple of days.  Now it's annoying.  Bordering on infuriating.

She must be operating on the "name it and claim it" approach.  But I promise you that, no matter how beautifully she sings or how persistently she taps on the glass, she is not going to claim my house.

I watched her in amused fascination the first morning.  The second day, I couldn't help but look at the blossoming maple, the blooming redbud, and the swaying river birch in our yard.  As well as the dogwoods and willows in our neighbor's yard. 

It made me wonder why, with all the beautiful places to make her home, this bird is intent on getting into the one place she cannot go.  She is wearing out her welcome, creating a mess (if you know what I mean) on our windowsill, and she is missing out on other, beautiful options that were made just for her.

And it made me wonder why I do the very same thing.  Plead and knock and slam my shoulder into doors that aren't for me.  Dismissing the paths that God places before me because I'm blindly stubborn about that ONE thing I think I must have.  Making a mess of things in my willfulness.



The glass bluebird my
grandmother kept on her
windowsill. One of her
favorite stories to tell was
teaching me to say "bird"
while letting me hold
it. Its beak is chipped -
hopefully not from flying
into forbidden windows...!

And guess what?  If that bluebird somehow crashes through my window, she still will not claim my house.  She will be bruised and disoriented, and I will gently take her back outside and put up a new pane of glass.  Just like the Lord kindly binds up my wounds and redirects me when I try to force my way into situations that are not for me, or good for me.  Because He can see beyond my limited view of the world and my own potential.

Lord, please help me to not be like that sweet but stubborn bluebird - trying to force my own misguided agenda while shunning the beautiful paths you've prepared for me and placed before me.  Open my eyes to the beauty and purpose you've prepared perfectly just for me!