Living out here in this new house I am surrounded by nature. There is the beautiful lake down below. Various different bird. Loads of different flowers and plants that I am just learning about. It has been a time to be encouraged by Gods creation.
A couple weeks ago I was woken up by a bird sound that I hadn’t really heard before. Charlie jumped off the bed and started running around my room and whining. So I opened the curtains the blocked my bed from the rest of the room. Right there on my balcony was a beautiful bald eagle. I stood there for a moment in awe of what I was seeing and didn’t know if I should start reciting the pledge of allegiance or grab for my camera phone. I chose the later. I turned around a quickly but calmly as possible to grab the phone and turned around just to see it fly off the deck. So, I laid the phone down and opted to sing the all time favorite ‘Proud to be ‘merican’ instead. In all seriousness though, it was one of the coolest experiences.
I thought that would trump everything, but then something happened this morning that I feel was a little gift from the Father. I woke up this morning and was laying in bed. Thinking about my day and all that it has in store. I am starting a bible study with a young friend of mine and our first meeting is today. I am so excited to spend time with this guy and share with him all that the Lord has done for me and can do for him. In the midst of thinking on this I looked at a face book page of a former mentor of mine that has since lost his way. My heart was crushed when I looked through the posts.
Each post was another declaration of freedom from the very thing that I hold to as my salvation. Each word a justification for him leaving what he had even expressed to me to be truth. My heart ached as I read an article he posted about a respected leader who decided to have the same belief as he has on what is truth and what is a lie. What is freedom and what is bondage. Then the Lord spoke to me through a very unusual servant. I know I am an emotional guy and I look at the world through different lenses most of the time, but I feel like this gift was so beautiful. So much so that it brought me to tears.
I heard a rustling sound from the other side of the room, and of course Charlie went to investigate. I open my curtains to see him chasing around a little sparrow that has gotten into my room through the screen door and can’t find its way out. I quickly grab Charlie and put him in another room so I can focus on getting this bird out. At first I grab a pillow and try and trap it in one of the window boxes I have. Then I realize that the pillow is too big. Then I grab a shirt and realize that I can’t maneuver it right in order to get the bird. So I decide to try and use my hands. I calmly put my hands around the bird and it just sits there. It sits there trusting that I am going to take care of it. I move over to the screen door and walk it out to the edge of the balcony and let if fly out of my hands. I didn’t think much of it then other than the fact that I now have to fix a screen, but a bit later while talking to my mom I was telling her about it and it was as if the Lord smacked me with what he was trying to tell me through the little sparrow.
Mentors have a responsibility. They have a mission that is very important and very delicate. They hold a life in their hands. Now, it isn’t like a doctor holds a life, but it is the emotional life of a person. The influence can be used for good or for the determent. My mentor I spoke of earlier was used so mightily in so many peoples lives, my own included, and then decided to pull the rug out from under the truth that he has spoken so boldly. The respected leader of such an impact full and important mission that denied the truth in which they spoke did the same. It breaks me heart in both situations because they are wonderful men who have gifts and abilities that could lead so many to freedom and truth. As a result of their choices many delicate hearts have been wounded even more. Responsibility.
This tiny bird this morning, I feel, was Gods way of showing me how to be a mentor. ( I know this may sound weird, but hear me out) A mentor can’t just corner someone into a belief ( the pillow) and they can’t just fan truth in their direction and hope that it sticks (the shirt) they have to be real. The have to show themselves and the blessings and gifts the Lord as given them. They have to be able to speak truth from their own lives and be transparent. (the hands) When you strip away all the masks and facades you see the raw true person and that is a testament of freedom. That is the true testament of God’s grace and power.
In addition to that comes what I feel to be the most important. They have to be committed and focused on the truth in which they speak. Just like I had to put Charlie way, we have to push the things that distract us away so we can maintain focus on not only Christ, but those who we mentor or come in contact with. We have to remain focused as we walk through life with our brothers or sisters that the Lord places in our path. Focused so as to achieve the goal of Freedom! Freedom through Jesus, who for some reason saw fit to die for us. To save me from my sin and my shame. Focusing on that truth opens doors to true, abounding freedom. Just like I had to remain focused on this delicate bird in my hand as I walked it outside the cage that was my room, Jesus has done that for me. He has done that for me through his word. He has done that for me through amazing men and women who have remained focused on him and shared that focus and freedom with me.
So now this morning I sit in awe of a God who still speaks. Who spoke to me and reminded me how delicate he treats me as he continues to free me from my past and my sin, and how now he is sharing that responsibility and honor with me as I get to speak truth and love to my brother today, and also others that he might bring into my life in the future. All this spoken through a little sparrow. Thank you Jesus for knowing me, and for speaking to me in such beautiful ways.
‘I Sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. For his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.’
