Trouble seems to knock on everyone’s door, and no one is exempt from it. With television, radio and the internet, we are bombarded with all kinds of events going
on in this world, and in our own lives as well. Sorrow and tragedy seem to be a daily thing, yet in all this calamity, God tells His people to be still and know that He is God.
In the 1970’s I had a cute little parakeet. I like birds, but they sure do make a mess. One day my feathered friend was making all kinds of noise and flapping his wings uncontrollable as hard as he could, but getting nowhere. He had never done this before, so I knew something had to be wrong. I took a closer look and saw he had one of his nails stuck in a grove of the bell that was hanging from the middle of his cage. I opened the door of the cage and stuck my hand in there to grab him, but he fluttered all the more. I guess he didn’t realize I was there to help him, to set him free. Finally exhaustion settled him down from trying to get free on his own, and he let me take control of the situation to help him. A couple of seconds later he was free and a happy bird again.
That day I learned something very important in my Christian walk. As my little parakeet struggled to handle something he had no control over, we as God’s children sometimes do the same thing. We fret and try to fix or do things on our own, and never seem to get anywhere. All the time God is telling us to be still, but we aren’t listening, we’re just making things worse by not letting God take full control of the situation. So next time trouble knocks on your door, remember the little parakeet story, but even more remember God’s word, to be still and know that He is God. He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
