Christian Walk

If you live in the foothills, mountains, or where there are many trees and flowers, you may have seen a hummingbird. Hummingbirds are very colorful, small, and move very fast. Their size ranges from 2.2 inches to 8.6 inches. Their wings beat 50-75 times per second. They zip around so fast it is hard to keep your eyes on them unless they are eating or looking around. Then, at that moment, they seem to be suspended in midair. They hover like a helicopter. At that moment, you can see their body and the pretty colors of their feathers, but you cannot see their wings because they are moving so fast it is a blur of gray. 

They do not land because their feet will not support them on flat surfaces. They have to perch on branches by curling their feet around the branch to have a rest. They make nests out of vegetation and clump it near the tops of trees. Hummingbirds need to eat often to keep up their energy.

My grandmother had hummingbirds because she had a few hummingbird feeders hanging at the corner eves of her house. She lived in the mountains of Durango Colorado where there were many trees and flowers. She made a sugar water concoction with red food coloring. She put this in the clear feeder. The feeder had holes in the sides where the hummingbird could put its long skinny bill into it and get the red liquid out. The red color attracted the hummingbird’s attention. 

They would appear, all of a sudden, from what seemed like nowhere, and would hover near the drinking hole. They would get a drink and...zip! They were gone. I loved to be outside and watch them zip around. When they passed by, I could hear them hum. Their wings were beating so fast it made a humming sound. That is how it got its name. As fast as it would arrive, it was gone.

Years later, a hummingbird got stuck in our garage. We lived in the foothills just outside of Denver. It had flown in when the big garage door was opened and didn’t know how to get out. It wanted out very badly and was trying to get out of the closed window.  The garage door was wide open, but the hummingbird’s focus was on the window and the trees it could see through the glass. We tried to get its focus off the window and over to the big open door, but we couldn’t. The hummingbird was flitting and darting all over the window and hitting it with its bill in frustration. We were worried it may hurt itself.

Finally, my husband went over to it and took his two large hands and quickly but carefully cupped them over the hummingbird. He then ran over to the big garage door opening and opened his large hands. Zip! It took off like a flash! The bird didn’t stop, it didn’t say thank you, and it never came back into the garage again. My husband said he could feel the hummingbird’s heart fluttering. I’m sure it was very frightened! At the window, it had been frustrated and frightened because it could not understand what was preventing it from escaping. Then it was very frightened because it was enclosed in those large hands and could not see.

That hummingbird shows me many things. First, it went someplace it should not have gone. That place was our garage. It was a dangerous place for the hummingbird because there was no food or water there. Remember I said they needed to eat very often? We didn’t know how long it was trapped it there. It didn’t understand that just because it could see out the window, didn't mean it could get through the window.

Another thing it shows me is the humming bird was impatient. It was frantically trying to get through the glass. If it would have flown away from the window, it would have seen the other light source of the open door, and it could have easily escaped the confines of the garage. It was impatient and kept trying the same thing over and over.

Something else I observe from the hummingbird’s actions is that we sometimes act just like it when we get into trouble. We panic and worry. We have a problem and we cannot see a way out. If we would step back and look at the problem, we would most likely see it clearly and see another option or the "big garage door" open for us.

Another way I see the hummingbird as a picture of us is when we are in a jam of some sort and we try to fix the problem by ourselves. A jam could be something we are having trouble with, like learning in school, having trouble memorizing something, being late for school, getting locked out of our house or car, getting lost in the mall, being afraid at night, losing a special toy, being sad because someone died that was close to us, having to move, going to a new school, or some other problem. We are upset and we try to fix the problem by ourselves. The Lord our heavenly Father wants us to trust Him to help us. He can put his strong hands around us and carry us to a safe place, or way of escape, if we let Him. When we are afraid, we need to trust God to protect us and get us through. When we need help, we need to call out to Him.

We are like the hummingbird in the fact that we don’t understand why things happen. The hummingbird didn’t understand what a garage was. It didn’t know to reverse directions and go back the way it came in. It didn’t understand that it was looking through glass and could not get through it. The trees were outside and it could see them clearly, but it was restricted by the glass. It didn’t understand that those large hands there were to protect and rescue it. The frightening large hands were there to help the hummingbird. We don’t see or understand that even though we may be afraid, in pain, or troubled with something, it is for a short time and for our good. God uses those things in our lives to help us. We can learn from those events God allows in our lives.  

When my husband opened up his hands and set the bird free, I’m sure it felt relieved. When God gets us through the problem or pain, we feel relieved. Sometimes he even carries us through it in His strong hands, but we just cannot see them.

Remember when I said the hummingbird never looked back nor said thank you? I was teasing, because we would never expect a hummingbird to do that in real life. We are like the hummingbird because after we have gone through the trial, we forget to look back to remember and learn from it. Also, more importantly, we forget to say thank you to our heavenly Father for getting us through the trial.

So what can we learn from the hummingbird that got caught in our garage? Patience, trust, to not panic and worry, to not go where we shouldn’t, to not try and fix the problem ourselves, and to realize  that we may not understand it but God does. Then we need to learn from it, look back and remember. Most importantly, we need to thank the Lord for the trial He took us through. He promises He will get us through the trial.

The Lord reminds us to be patient and to trust. Romans 12:12, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing in prayer…We need to trust and not try to figure it out for ourselves.  Proverbs 3:5&6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Jesus tells us five times not to worry in Matthew 6:25-34.

So, I hope you will learn from our hummingbird friend. I also think you may come up with other things you can learn from the hummingbird. If you would like, please write your thoughts in the comment box.

Memorize all or part of Proverbs 3:5&6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  

Verses in NKJ unless otherwise stated.