LESSONS FROM A HUMMINGBIRD

The Trap of Counterfeit Light

Photo by Timothy Abraham on Unsplash

My heart sank when I saw the hummingbird frantically flying against the dormer skylight on my mom’s porch. He kept beating his wings against the clouded glass as if it was the only way out, though he was not actually trapped; all the space below promised freedom.

I tried to help. Gentle direction from the broom only frightened him, so I climbed on the roof and pounded on the glass, hoping to distract him downward. No luck. No luck either with laying black plastic over the skylight. His tiny brain could only think one thing—up, up, up.

My mother said, “Don’t worry about it. Tonight when it gets dark, I’ll turn on the patio light, and that will guide him to freedom.”

“But he will wear out and die before then,” I protested.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’ve seen them escape that way before.”

Sure enough, that evening my mother’s plan worked, much to my relief.

The hummingbird’s plight reminded me of how easily we can get just as disoriented. We, too, can chase counterfeit light, not realizing that “our way out” is actually a barrier to freedom. We, too, can get stuck doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results (which, as we all know, is the definition of insanity). We, too, can think that life is only found by going “up.” Climbing up the corporate ladder, pursuing upwardly mobile social positions, keeping up appearances, engaging in one-upmanship.

The lie is that we must rise higher and higher—do all we can to elevate ourselves because safety is found in “height.” However, we can learn from the hummingbird. He needed to abandon his futile goal to fly upwards. The way out was down. So, too, for us. The way to freedom is down—giving up our need to have the last word, to defend ourselves, to be superior, to insist on our rights. In other words, to live humbly.

The hummingbird could not see the true light that would guide him out of the trap until night came. Sometimes neither can we. Sometimes we must enter a dark season of life before we can actually “see” well enough to escape the enemy’s trap. In darkness, all vain pursuits dim compared to the glorious hope that shines from our true light, Jesus.

How surprising to discover such “hefty” spiritual insights through a hummingbird, which on average weighs less than a marshmallow!

“Humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor” (I Peter 5:6, NLT).

---

Dear Readers,

My devout 19-year-old cat, shown here reading her favorite passage in Leviticus, loves this inspiring post about the hummingbird (birds are friends now that she’s old) and recommends you share it on social media or via email. She says many “thank you meows” for helping her mistress reach new readers!