Worship At A Hummingbird Feeder

I have a hummingbird feeder.
I found it at a garden center.
I have never seen anything like this one before.
It is not the usual plastic kind with the red accents and the artificial flowers.

This one is made of glass.
It is actually a red Ball glass jar.
It is inverted on a metal base.
It even has a metal rim around it for the hummingbird to rest on.

The hummingbird feeder caught my eye right away.
Since I have quite a few Ball jars both clear and blue, this red one intrigued me.
I made a mental note that the metal rim was probably for decoration.
Hummingbirds fly too rapidly and move around too much to perch on a metal rim.

The hummingbird feeder is hanging on my side porch.
It is interspersed between wind chimes and hanging plants.
It is in a prime location so that I can see it from my kitchen.
However, it is when I sit on my porch swing that I have the most joy.

I will sit on my porch swing if I know I am going to be on the phone for a while.
I will sit on the porch swing if a dear friend stops by to talk.
I will sit on the porch swing when I want to grab one-on-one time with my children.
I will sit on the porch swing to be refreshed.

Sometimes I make a deal with myself.
I will go inside when I see a hummingbird come to the feeder.
It ends up that I stay out there longer than I should since I find hummingbirds so fascinating.
Watching them fly forwards and backwards astounds me.

Watching them hover and drink the sweet nectar makes me smile.
Their long beak fits perfectly into the openings around the metal base.
I watch them fly back to the woods on the other side of the stone wall.
Is there a nest somewhere in those trees?

As I sat on my porch swing I watched a hummingbird come to the feeder.
As it flew away, another one came from another direction.
After a few minutes, they both happened to come to the feeder at the same time.
They fought for space.

I watched them go at each other quite aggressively.
I watched as they flew across my porch as I was siting there, so close I could hear their wings.
I felt like I was participating in a shell game.
No matter how intently I watched, I couldn’t keep track of which hummingbird was which.

I wanted to tell them, there’s enough for the both of you.
I wanted to remind them that I make my own sugared water concoction.
There’s more where that came from, I said out loud as if they could hear me.
After the claim was staked, one hummingbird perched on the metal rim.

The bird whose wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second actually perched.
The bird whose heart rate is more than 1,200 beats per minute was unusually still.
The bird that can lick 10-15 times per second through fringed, forked tongues drank mightily.
The bird that has no sense of smell but has very keen eyesight found my feeder.

I was close to something that can be so elusive.
Nature was within arm’s reach yet I remained still as I watched.
Thank you, Lord, I said out loud.
Thank you for this beauty.

Do you ever find yourself worshiping God as He makes Himself known in nature?
Do you ever feel as if you want to sing at the top of your lungs because words are inadequate?
Do you ever want to freeze frame a particular sight that happens in the blink of an eye?
Do you ever feel the praise brimming over because God is so good to give us all these delights?

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him from the heights above. Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him all His heavenly hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him all you shining stars. Praise Him, you highest heavens and waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord for He commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever, He gave a decree that will never pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens, He has raised up for His people a horn, the praise of all His saints, of Israel, the people close to His heart. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 148)

Riotous praise.
We can only touch the surface of all the things that we can praise God for.
Things that He created surround us for our good and His glory.
He loves to delight His children.

However, His children forget.
We try to explain all of this glory away.
We reduce the beauty around us to scientific terms and theories.
We try to dissect everything and in the process we forget the wonder.

The wonder of a little child.
The wonder of being His child no matter how old we are.
It is about leaning on our elbows and looking at a sunset and knowing Who to thank.
It is about watching a hummingbird fly and knowing Who is responsible.

God does not need the beauty of His creation to satisfy Him.
He is completely satisfied in Himself as part of the Godhead.
There is nothing He lacks; there is nothing He wants.
All of this beauty, all that astounds and amazes us, is purely for our delight.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98:4-9)

Riotous praise!
It is so easy to do!
Look around you and thank God for all you see.
All you see is for your good and His glory.

Sing to the Lord a new song for He has done marvelous things. (Psalm 98:1)
Go ahead, sing!

2 responses to “Worship At A Hummingbird Feeder”

1. Gina. you have the soul of a poet! I so identify with what you are saying! I feel most close to God when looking at His creation–and He made it just for us! How blessed we are! We praise You, Lord!

   Reply

   • Sue,
     I always loved the verse from Romans: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
     God is clearly seen in all that He has made. We have no excuses.
     Gina

     Reply