As I pulled into my driveway, I saw it.

A round, baseball-sized gray creature nestled against a brick retaining wall at the edge of the driveway. As I approached, the fledging baby blue jay looked up at me. How did he get there? Too young to fly. Other than tilting his head upward, he didn’t move a muscle. I saw no evidence of injury.

 

Help Wanted

I couldn’t leave him there. Days before I spotted a stray cat perched a few yards away. The sunny-day temp hovered near 100 and he couldn’t feed himself. “What can I do to save him?”

I’ve never cared for a baby bird and don’t have a bird cage. He wouldn’t last 30 seconds in our house with our two dachshunds. Hmmm….he probably needs water. I tucked him into a small box and carried him to a neighbor who has a soft heart for animals. Maybe she has a dropper so I can get water into him.

Carol googled how to care for a baby bird, then said, “No–don’t give him water!  They get water from the food the mom gives. Giving him water yourself could fill his lungs and kill him.”

I wanted to rescue the little fella, but felt totally inadequate for his care. He was weeks away from being able to fly and forage for his food. When I voiced that concern, Carol remembered a wildlife rescue center nearby that takes in injured or vulnerable animals. She googled the address…..only an hour left until they close.

 

Cry for Help

As I drove five miles to the rescue center, the little fella pointed his beak straight up at a 90 degree angle. He opened wide his mouth, crying loudly for food. He carried on that way the entire ride.

I’ve never seen a more helpless, vulnerable creature. Totally dependent on someone else to feed and protect him. Desperate for outside intervention to survive. He had nowhere to look but up, and since his mom wasn’t available, he looked up to me.

Apparently, he understood and accepted his complete dependence! He didn’t try to escape or wobble off. No, he glanced up from his box and begged for help. His gaping mouth revealed a readiness to receive, a type of faith. He expected me to come through for him.

To my immense relief, the center took him in. They knew how to feed and care for him. When I called two days later a lady said, “He’s doing fine!”

 

Who’s the Real Needy One?

While thinking about the bird the night after I rescued him, God’s Spirit whispered, “Terry, that baby bird is a picture of what I desire from My children.”

“What do you mean, Lord?”

“He wasn’t shy about pleading for help. He knew he was helpless to provide for himself. Desperate, he had nowhere to look but up. He saw you and appealed boldly, spiritedly for sustenance.

“I want my children to approach Me like the bird approached you in the car: heart and mind wide open to receive sustenance. I want them to stay aware of their daily need to call on Me and feed from My Word. My Word provides milk (1 Peter 2:2) and solid food (Hebrews 5:12-14) to nourish their souls.

“That baby bird is the epitome of dependence. That’s the attitude, the posture of mind and heart, that pleases Me. I created you to be dependent, not self-sufficient.”

 

 

How Neediness Glorifies God

“Terry, I want you to devour My Word as if you’ll die if you don’t take it in, to labor more in prayer for yourself and for those you love. Terry, I’m not calling for legalism, approaching Me because you ought to. No, I want a closer relationship so you’ll cry out to Me because you know I love you and want to provide for you. My glory manifests itself most when you’re needy and helpless, when you feel totally inadequate and your only recourse is to beg for My intervention.

“Here’s how I explain it in Psalms 50:15. ‘Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ Ironically, your need provides an opportunity for Me to intervene in a way that will exhibit My might. Your part, like the baby bird’s, is to cry out for help.”

 

Personal Areas of Need

“Terry, camp out on this thought for a few minutes. When are you as desperate for My help as that baby bird was for your intervention?”

“Well, the first thing that comes to mind is depression. When I’m in its vice-like grip, hopelessness envelops me. Negativity dominates my thinking. Motivation wanes, even for tasks I normally consider important.

“Another example is when I’m tempted, when a lure is so strong that I think yielding to it is inevitable. Anyone who thinks spiritual warfare and susceptibility to sin declines as we get older is naive.”

“What else?” asks the Lord.

“Okay…I tend to hold grudges against people who hurt me. Resentment poisons my soul and siphons off joy, like the time someone spread false rumors about me. People believed the lies she told! I wanted to hurt her back!”

“Terry, what do you do when despondency, temptation and bitterness overwhelm you?”

“I run to you, often many times a day. I plead for the strength to keep going. I preach to myself promises from Your Word that instill hope. I beg for You to eradicate resentment and my excessive concern for my reputation. I seek support and input from others in the body of Christ, because the burdens are too heavy for me (Galatians 6:2). Often in my spiritual journey, I have no recourse but to rely on You and Your means of grace. I feel like the polar opposite of a strong Christian.

“I feel desperate, with nowhere to look but up, and–”

“You mean, like the baby blue jay?”

 

Irony of Christian Living

“Terry, your weakness or neediness isn’t a spiritual problem. In fact, it’s a prerequisite for victorious Christian living. Ironically, you’re never more victorious than when You grasp your spiritual poverty and call on Me.

“I like how my servant Paul Tripp puts it: ‘Weakness is not the big danger to be avoided. What you need to avoid is your delusion of strength. The way to enter into God’s strength is to admit how little strength you actually have.'”

“Hmmm…it’s making sense now, Lord. I recall what You said to Paul when he complained about his thorn in the flesh: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness'”(2 Cor. 12:9).

“Terry, too many believers experience stunted spiritual growth and less fruitfulness because they’re too self-sufficient. They wouldn’t say it, but they subtly think they have it all together. Members of the early church in Laodicea were lukewarm in their faith because they didn’t grasp their need. What I told them applies today: ‘You say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked’ (Revelation 3:17).

“Your areas of felt need and weakness are blessings, not curses. It’s okay that you aren’t okay, Terry. Because I AM!

“One other thing. So you’ll remember this lesson, download a photo of a baby blue jay with its mouth open. Enlarge it, frame it and hang it in your home office. Put the photo high on the wall, well above eye level.”

“But why would I put it so high on the wall, Father?”

“So you have to look up to see it.”