The Broken Wing Act

It’s been awhile since I’ve written (ok, a long while!).  It’s not that I haven’t had any deep thoughts that might be worth sharing.  I just have been in a weird place.  I’m praying this may be the beginning of coming out of it.

We recently moved to a new house.  A mere three and a half miles from our previous home, you’d think we might have moved to another city.  It’s not because things are unfamiliar. As a matter of fact, our surroundings by and large have not changed.  Our connections for the most part are the same. We might be shopping at a different grocery store location, but we’re still within the confines of the area we have always lived.  Yet, things are different.

Our new home is significantly bigger than the old one.  Sixteen years of memories have given way to the opportunity for new ones.  Of course, we’ve been quarantined during much of this time, but the blessings are springing up all around us.  New neighbors, new home with breathing room (my own space to craft and get away, maybe even write more!) as well as a new view.

At our previous house, the view we preferred was out the back windows.  Fifty acres of land went largely unused for the majority of the time we lived there.  Cows grazed the fields for the first ten or so years, in addition to wildlife such as deer, turkeys, coyotes, racoons, and various types of birds.  The Lord spoke to me often through that view.  And, now, my view has changed.  I now look out the front of my home for the better scenery.

While the house faces a main roadway, the view on the other side is of a beautiful farm, complete with horses and possibly a few cows.  As the front of the house faces west, the sunsets are spectacular.  Yet, as I prepare to share my latest insight, I realize it is not through the greater view that I received my revelation, but rather, the closer, more detailed one – the one right in my front yard.

It was on one of my morning walks with my dogs, I noticed a variety of bird I had never seen before.  It was flailing its wings as if it was injured.  I watched with interest, as did the pups, as this bird flapped its wings and chirped, if that is what you can call it.  I turned to walk away and to my surprise, the bird got up and scurried away on its feet as if nothing was wrong.  I did a double-take, and it was again on the ground, flapping and chirping, until we were a little further out and it hopped back on its feet again.  With my curiosity piqued, I immediately set to researching this bird.  

Of course, it didn’t take long to discover this species of bird is called a Killdeer, named so for the apparent call that sounds like “keel-deer” (although I don’t think it sounds like that at all).  A unique characteristic of this bird is the spectacle I observed called “the wounded bird act.”  As a way to protect its young, the mother bird will draw predators away by putting on this so-called “act.”  Knowing that, I realized just how successful this little creature was at drawing my (and the dogs') attention away from the two little baby birds who happened to have hatched from the nest in my globe blue spruce.  Fascinated, I begun to look for this little bird family each time I left my house, whether to walk the dogs, get the mail or drive somewhere.  I believe I read that the babies need 40 days with their parents before they can fly.  Of course, the number “40” is in and of itself significant in the Bible, but that’s not so much where the Lord drew my focus.  Let me explain.

There are many references in the Bible regarding the protection of the Lord.  I immediately recall Psalm 91:4, which says, “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection” (NLT).   The imagery we often draw is of a mother bird sheltering her young with her wings, or, as I have observed the killdeer do, completely hide them by using her whole body (she sits on them!).  But, there is another image to which I am drawn while considering the ways God has wired this bird to protect her young.

The goal of the "broken wing" act is to draw the attention of the predator away from the vulnerable babies.  Could it be that the Cross is the very thing that draws our attention away from our own vulnerabilities?  Oftentimes, we are our own worst enemies.  Our flesh wrestles against our spirit. The latter half of Matthew 26:41 tells us to “For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (NLT) We focus on our lack, on our past failures, on our strongholds, on our weaknesses and never move forward into victory.  But, if we look to the Cross, and remember that by His stripes we are healed (Isa. 53:5) and that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Rev. 12:11), we can be free.  We look to the Cross for our salvation.  Is it not our focus on our vulnerability that trips us up and keeps us in bondage?  

Because, on the flip side, we know that the enemy's goal to draw our eyes away from our Savior and bring our focus on all the things things we lack and suffer from - what we can't do, what we have done wrong, who we aren't, what and who we have lost.  Hopelessness creeps in and we too easily forget who we are in Christ and all He has done for us and in us.

But, looking for through the lens of the Word, the broken wing act is not an act at all, but rather the truth on which we must stand.  It is Christ’s wounds that reminds the enemy that he has been defeated.  His wounds must remind us of Who He is and who we are in Him.  It is essential for us to remember that the enemy has been defeated. Christ's death drew the enemy's focus away from us and to the Cross, where he thought he had won.  Instead, through Christ's resurrection, the victory is ours as well.

Each day, whether the threat is real or perceived, the momma bird drew my attention away from her precious young.  We, too, must look daily to the Cross to receive our hope and strength to move forward. Our threat is very real, for we not only do we battle ourselves, but the enemy wages war with us as well (Eph. 6:12).

No one said it is easy. The Lord knows I have a lot of work to do in my own life.  This quarantine has been challenging for me and I have struggled to embrace the lessons God is teaching me.  Depression has tried to be my companion during this time of "healthy at home."  Thanks to Momma Killdeer, I think I’m starting to see things a bit differently and each time I watch her feign her broken wing, I will be reminded of Christ and the price He paid for me to live a life where my vulnerabilities are the place where His strength is glorified.  

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (NLT)

May the Cross ever draw our eyes away from ourselves and back to the One who gave His life for us.