The Warbler

^“ My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:1-3

Last week, I had an unexpected visitor to my office.

On a dreary, gray Sunday morning, a little birdie told me that Jesus loves me.

I had just fired up my computer at the church bookstore where I work when an enchanting little bird flitted into my office. He chirped a little and then delicately lit on a mesh back support above my desk.

I had encountered the creature just a few minutes earlier in the cafe that adjoins my bookstore. A customer had informed me that a bird was flying around near the Bible cover displays.

I walked over expecting to see a frightened brown sparrow fluttering around. Instead, I saw a splendidly clad little fellow hopping along the floor near the cafe’s large glass windows. His feathers were a deep blue-gray with a brilliant shock of yellow under his wings and on his chest. He was breathtaking and strangely calm.

I marvelled for a moment, then headed back to my paperwork. I figured he’d find his way out when he was good and ready.

When the bird found his way into my office, I was bemused. Why was he at the back of the store. and not at the front near the large windows and glass doors?

But “James,” as I’ve since named him, was on a mission. This precious Audubon Warbler was sent to deliver a personal message just for me from Jesus Himself.

In 1 Kings 17:4-6, the Lord sent ravens to feed Elijah during a severe drought in Israel. He was also provided with water from a nearby brook. The Lord provided sustenance for the prophet during a period of no rain or dew.

On that dreary Sunday morning, Jesus was faltering during a long sojourn through the desert of brokeness. When you’re in the midst of a prolonged trial, there are good days and bad days. It had been a stressful week for me and my strength was depleted. I hungered for hope and panted for peace.

But God, who sovereignly allowed the drought, faithfully sent deliverance.

The minute I locked eyes with little James, I felt the presence of the Lord and wondered what message God was sending. My new feathered friend perched and chirped for two or three minutes and then he flew away.

A short time after James had gone, a friend stopped in to ask how my husband and I were doing. She had been in the store a few weeks prior and had told me that she knew the Lord was “doing wonderful things” in our lives.

On her return visit that Sunday morning, her eyes sparkled with joy and excitement when she greeted me. As she prayed over me, I was deeply moved at her absolute conviction that God has good things in store for my family.

After she left, I believed I fully understood the message James had brought to me.

What I didn’t know was that the stirring words my friend had just spoken would serve as merely the first page of a lengthy love letter from the Lord, filled with great affection and tenderness.

Two days after James’ extraordinary visit, a staff member gave me a phone message to call a customer in search of a CD the bookstore used to carry. When I looked at the message I immediately recognized the customer’s name . He was a dear friend who had worked with my husband and I many years ago. Over time we had lost touch.

I called my friend and tearfully shared with him the details of the difficult season we were moving through. This very special friend of mine quietly lavished me with encouragement, quoting scripture after scripture.

Just like when I saw little James, I felt God’s undeniable presence. My friend spoke not only of the Lord’s promises, but with brutal honesty, he also cautioned me against bitterness and despair.

“Chris, there’s a reason that James tells us to count it all joy, when the Lord sends a trial,” he said. “Because,” he went on, “blessings follow trials. Hold onto that.”

Forty-five minutes into this life-giving conversation, I apologized that I had forgotten to give my friend the information about the CD he was wanted.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “That CD was just a device the Lord used so that I could speak with you.”

James’ special delivery was complete.

The message from this exquisite little songbird was one of great hope. With quaint majesty, James heralded the arrival of other messengers who would reinfuse my heart with the never-changing truth that God, the creator of the universe, treasures me. Even on days when I forget that truth, Jesus will always find new ways to reassure me that He will never forsake me, and that, as 1 Peter 1::6 says “there is wonderful joy ahead."

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

Emily Dickinson