Chattering
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his
hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they
display knowledge. There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard." (Ps 19:1-3 NIV)
The morning dawned bright and clear. We’d barely gotten onto the trail,
strolling rather than seriously hiking, enjoying God’s handiwork.
So far, we were the only ones in sight. I heard a faint noise, a ticking or
cheeping. It grew louder as I stepped slowly off the trail. I figured it must
be a mountain jay or some other kind of bird. Peering up through the the tall
evergreens, my eyes strained to se motion. Nada, zip, zero.
The chattering increased, and the perp came into view: a brown squirrel, quite
small, tail just a-twitchin’. He was perched on a branch and boy was he mad.
Clearly he did not like us being in his territory. The closer I inched, the
noisier the chattering got, until he scampered off.
I was laughing as I thought, “He is ‘that’ big, and I’m ‘that’ big. You’d think
he wouldn’t fuss at something so much bigger than he is!”
I didn’t see him on the way back down. While I was keeping an eye out for him,
it crossed my mind how sometimes I get annoyed if things aren’t going the way
I’d planned, and ‘chatter’ at God.
I’m finite, He’s infinite. I’m a ‘blade of grass, here today and gone
tomorrow’, and He’s forever. I know hardly anthing, He knows everything. He
alone is omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign. I hope that, if I start
‘chattering’ at God, I can catch myself and think about what I’m saying.
Lord, thank you for the beautiful world You gave us, and thank you for
continually showing us, growing us, and teaching us, and as my grandson Tommy
says, “thank you most of all for your Son, Jesus!’