The Hummer and the Cardinal

With emerald coat ashimmer

And a ruby at his throat,

Along zoomed a hummer

Treading air to stay afloat.

Speeding wings invisible,

A sudden pause mid-flight,

Hummer was invincible,

That sugar-sipping sprite!

Excitedly he swooped,

Spotting his favorite color;

But no! He was duped.

It was not a scarlet flower!

Halting his dive midair, 

Surprised - it wasn’t fair!

Looked straight in the face of a cardinal

Instead of a crimson perennial!

Oh! That nectar would’ve been sweet

If Trumpet Vine had been the treat.

But Hummer respectfully bowed his head.

“Please pardon me,” was all he said.

Devotional Reflections: God of Surprises!

Recently I experienced a delightful moment. A male cardinal perched on the ledge of my deck. As he stood there like a scarlet sentinel, a hummingbird whizzed down and stopped midair in front of him. The little hummingbird seemed surprised as he looked at the beautiful red bird, and I could only guess what he might have been thinking. Little does he know that his mistake gave birth to a poem!

Have you ever anticipated something that you thought was true only to discover it wasn’t at all what you imagined? In that moment of shock, how do we handle feelings of disappointment or confusion? Can we see the goodness and beauty in the astonishment? Can we open our minds to receive the blessing in an unplanned moment? The hummingbird anticipated a sweet sip from his favorite red flower, but upon discovering the cardinal instead, he regarded this surprise with respectful acceptance, and possibly reverence. 

God surprises people! God uses unpredictable ways to carry out his plans. He worked through Moses, a man with a speech impediment, to convince the Pharaoh of Egypt to release his entire workforce, allowing the people of Israel to leave. Calling Samuel while still a young boy, God chose him to be a prophet. He handpicked another boy, a shepherd named David, to kill a giant Philistine and become Israel’s next king. He sent Gabriel to a teenage girl, honoring her as the vessel through which he became flesh as the Son, Jesus. Jesus was a different type of Messiah than what the Jewish people believed would come. Extending God’s family to include all non-Jewish people the world over was not what the chosen nation of Israel imagined was in God’s plan. 

These are only a few of the countless stories in scripture where God worked completely differently than people assumed he would. That’s how God is! Jesus said,

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” ~Matthew 18:3

No one expected that! Let’s learn to recognize God in the unusual by opening our hearts and imaginations with childlike trust to the surprising ways he is working in our own lives today.

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty…” 

~1 Corinthians 1:27

 “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’” says the Lord.

    ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so my ways are higher than your ways

    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’”

~Isaiah 55:8-9

Questions to Ponder:

• When something unexpected happens, how might God be trying to get my attention?

• Could there be a message in this surprise?

• Is there an opportunity to practice humility, patience, or gratitude in the midst of disappointment?

• Could there be a blessing when I least expect it?

• Could I be a blessing in someone else’s unexpected moment?

By Heather J. Willis, author