On May 1, I saw my first hummingbird of 2019. I witnessed this tiny creature staring at his reflection in our sliding-glass door, as I refreshed myself after mowing with an iced tea and tunes. It pleased my heart to know this bird had successfully made his 500 mile non-stop journey across the Gulf of Mexico. (Pause for Thought: “I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”—Psalm 55:6. Is something causing you unrest in your soul, or body, or spirit right now? What do you do to find rest and calm? How effective and lasting is your prescription for rest?)
Weighing no more than a copper penny, the ruby-throated hummingbird has been designed by God to illustrate the victory in conserving time and energy to achieve life purposes. The hummingbird is so tiny; it uses energy an exorbitant rate. To make its non-stop flight migration from Central America, over the Gulf of Mexico, to the United States at the end of every winter, the hummingbird will take a rest…a Sabbath. It does something most other birds don’t—it hibernates for a night or two before its journey. This allows the bird to store its energy reserves for the long flight. Without this energy, the hummingbird will plummet into the Gulf of Mexico. (Pause for Thought: “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my Holy Day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s Holy Day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”—Isaiah 58:13-14. What causes your “feet” from honoring God and His day? What have been the results in relationship to Jesus, others, and you? What does calling the Sabbath a “delight” mean to you?)
A German proverb states, “What is the use of running when we are not on the right road?” Even the hummingbird will exhaust itself in an attempt to use the exact perch hundreds of times after it has fallen or been removed. Eventually, the bird will come to its senses and find another perch to start its seasonal rhythms for its life purpose of survival. God took a rest after completing His goal and before continuing His present day purposes. Shouldn’t we measure our ways of efficiency based on how our Lord efficiently completes His purposes? Our Father knows how to work smarter instead of working harder. Even the tiny hummingbird, whose wings provide lift and propulsion during downward and upward thrusts, is a reminder of God’s efficiency in and through us if we but wait on Him. (Pause for Thought: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”—Psalm 37:7. Is there a difference in how the world obtains success and how God wants us to obtain success? Is there a difference in the pace between the world’s way and God’s way? Give an example as to why or why you don’t think there is a difference.)
