Max Lucado (A Gentle Thunder) has lots of hummingbirds around his house. One day a hummingbird flew into his garage through an open door. However, this bird insisted on trying to exit via a closed window. Eventually the bird was trapped between two window panes. Max reached in, grabbed a few feathers, and jerked the hummingbird out. What the bird most likely perceived as painful and scary was in reality a hand extended to help it gain freedom.
Pastor Lucado says we’re like that hummingbird, misinterpreting God’s extended aid as an intended hurt. When beset by adversity, we tend to fixate on the hurt rather than the blessing God intends for us.
Ann Spangler (The Peace God Promises) explains: “Whatever the scale of our hurt, we have the opportunity to be dominated not by the memory of what was done to us but by the memory of what was done for us. If we ask God to help us, our gratitude for his delivering hand will sooner or later eclipse the hurt we suffered.”
