We are members of a Facebook group for our local area. Someone posted yesterday that the hummingbirds are back! Hearing that news brought much joy to us. On our back porch we have a special place reserved for our hummingbird feeder. We are preparing for their arrival.
In doing a little research, we have found out that hummingbirds are birds in the family Trochilidae, and are native to North and South America. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 50-80 beats per second and flying at speeds over 30 mph. They are the only group of birds that can fly frontwards, backwards, and sideways. Another interesting thing they can do is show off during courtship doing U-shaped dives at 60 mph!
There is something very special about these birds. They don’t act like the birds out our front window - the finches, cardinals, sparrows, etc. Yes, they are birds, and there’s a mystery that only God knows about them.
The hummingbird is a very good example of the evidence for God as Creator. They have been given features that exactly allow their survival: long bill, special tongue, unique rapid wing-beat, all needed in order to be able to gather its food. Just the mystery of how they are able to fly the way they do points to the evidence of a very creative Creator!
There are some things about God that will just have to remain mysteries. The hummingbird is one of them and we are happy to marvel at this wondrous creation.
Whenever I am afield or outdoors, there steals over me the acute consciousness that I am confronted on every hand by the superb workmanship of my Father. It is as if every tree, rock, river, flower, mountain, bird, or blade of grass had stamped upon it the indelible label, “Made by God.” Is it any wonder that in a simple yet sublime sense of devotion, respect, and reverence for all life, Christ longed for His Father’s name to be hollowed throughout the earth?
- Philip Keller
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