Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.
Malcolm Muggeridge

Sometimes when you sense a special moment you gotta stop and get out of the car!
Driving home one late afternoon I saw a huge gathering of birds flying in an amazing formation over the Apple campus.  It was an aerial ballet and I decided if I was gonna catch the show and fully enjoy the choreography, I better not do it while driving in rush hour traffic.  The spectacle only lasted a few minutes, but its beauty raised the hair on my arms, left me with a lump in my throat and a fresh shot of joy in my heart.

A friend mentioned later on Facebook that he’d seen the same phenomenon a few days before.

And then I saw this on Youtube and had to share it with you.  You have to get 30 seconds into this video to get to the good stuff 🙂

The science behind how these birds do this is interesting, but the mystery of it and its deeper meaning are what fascinate me.

God is into abundance.

In the world He made we see it in the starry skies and teeming oceans.  When these birds get together in massive numbers it reminds me of that truth.  We are inching up on 7 billion people on earth, but there are very few identical twins 🙂  We all share similar vessels, but with infinite variety in the details.  And each one of us matters.  We’re not interchangeable and substitutable.

God adds layers of perfection in everything He makes.

Tangerines are nourishing.  They also taste and smell delicious.  Bonus ~ they are beautiful shiny orange globes.  What does that say about God?  Why do we have taste buds and tangerines?  If you believe God made both, then take the escalator down another level and ask yourself why.  Why is there still so much beauty in a fallen world?  How can softly falling rain quiet our anxiousness?  Or a little lavender oil on the nightstand soothe us to sleep?  Why does a child’s laughter make us laugh, or birdsong illicit a smile?

God is constantly speaking to us.

I’ve never understood the theory of a far-removed maker who jump-started the world and took off for greener pastures.  There’s too much intrinsic design for that kind of detached abandonment.   He Is There and He Is Not Silent, she said while snagging a good line from Francis Schaeffer’s book title 🙂

So what is He saying?  Here’s some of what I’ve been hearing.

No one is redundant, we’re each uniquely integral to His plan and purpose.  

• Don’t believe Satan’s rumor that you don’t matter.

You do, we all do.  In our families, in our communities, at work, or just getting our nails done, God wants us to carry Him into all those relationships, all those one-on-one encounters.  The everyday, the mundane encounter contains the potential of a divine appointment.  Routine interactions become moments of destiny.

• Don’t discount your value and intended contribution.

God has brought you this far.  Through all kinds of experiences, good and bad, uplifting and soul-crushing.  Don’t waste any of it.  What you have to share—only YOU have to share.  Be led by the Holy Spirit.  Look around and ask Him if there’s anybody you can smile at, talk with or gently encourage.

God is constantly inviting us to be more like Him.

• When fruit matures it soaks up the sun and turns it into mouth-watering sweetness. 

As we walk through days with Jesus,  we soak up the Son and His character adds something that sweetens us.  I feel like He makes us ‘divinely appetizing’ to those He surrounds us with.   It’s the work of the Holy Spirit making each of us more like Jesus.

God’s fingers can touch nothing but to mold it into loveliness.
George Macdonald

God fits the mouthpiece to the message.  Working in us love and kindness, offering through us His grace and truth to hungry yearning hearts.  He makes us palatable 🙂   We have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7).

We have to keep the lines of communication open.  We have to learn to make listening a daily habit.

Tell me in the morning about your love, because I trust you. Show me what I should do, because my prayers go up to you.
Psalm 143:8 NCV

He is there and He is not silent.  

God wants to tell each of us how much He loves us and invite us to enjoy all He’s made and shared with us.  And I know He wants to include each of us in His plans and give us the joy of taking part in His purposes.
Nothing kicks boredom to the curb faster than realizing God is using you to touch someone’s life.

We all get lots of messages every day.  Full Inboxes, pinging text notifications, and vibrating phones.   If we’re not careful they’ll gobble up all of our attention.

God’s voice is the still small one.  
He has a pre-set volume.  We have to turn down all the other noise to hear Him 🙂

I can’t tell you what His message to you personally is, but I know He has something to say to every one of us.
The question is, are we getting the message?

Sure, there’s plenty about God we don’t understand or comprehend.  But I don’t want to miss the glimpses of glory, the moments of majesty, and the soft whispers.  If we look and if we listen we’ll see and hear ~ and know a little more of Him tomorrow than we do today.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?
Job 26:14

. . .the mere edges of His ways.
Ohhh, that’s the perfect description of the starling murmuration ~ the edges of His ways.

Let’s stop thinking that only people like Moses or Abraham heard from God.  He recorded plenty of truth about Himself in the world He made.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19:1-6 ESV

And Jesus said His sheep hear His voice.
I’m working on my listening skills.
How about you?
What have you been hearing lately?