WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

As I walked along the snow-covered street, with the snow crunching under my feet, a flurry of shadows passed across my path. I turned to look, but I could not see them. Then I heard them, the chirp of small birds resting in the branches of a bare tree.

                At lunch, I looked out the window and there he was, a small black and white chickadee flitting from tree to tree. I had not seen any small birds in our back yard all winter. I thought, where have you been?

                It is amazing that small birds can survive in this harsh climate. I know from past experience that they need a source of food and places of shelter to get out of the wind and the cold. In our home in Mankato, we had bird-feeders in the backyard that were alive with small birds all winter. They would flit from the feeder to the shelter of the pine tree. After Christmas, we would place our Christmas tree in the snow next to the feeder to give them an extra measure of shelter. That is what surprised me the other day. We have no feeders in our yard. We have seen no signs of these courageous birds all winter. But now, there they were.

                Sometimes, in the winter times of our lives, we feel like God has disappeared from the scene. We trudge through the cold blasts of trials and challenges seemingly alone. Then, out of nowhere, we catch the glimpse of a shadow crossing our path. We hear the faint sound of God’s whisper. Then He is there again in full view.

                King David often struggled with a sense of abandonment as he faced the winter times of his life. He expressed his feelings often in the Psalms. Multiple times the cry “how long” escaped from David’s lips. David knew the joy of walking with God and so keenly felt the pain when he thought God was absent. Psalm 13 is a prime example of David’s struggle to see God in the winter of his life.

Psalm 13:1-6

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

    How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

        How long will you hide your face from me?

    How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

        and every day have sorrow in my heart?

        How long will my enemy triumph over me?

    Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.

        Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

    my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"

        and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

    But I trust in your unfailing love;

        my heart rejoices in your salvation.

    I will sing to the Lord,

        for he has been good to me.

                During the winter times of our lives, we can feel like God is not present. Yet David reminds us that we can trust in God’s unfailing love. Even when we do not feel His presence, He is present. We can hold onto His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.

                As I watched the chickadee in my backyard, I was reminded that he has been here all along. Just because I didn’t see him doesn’t change the reality. When God opens my eyes to see Him, He reminds me again that He has been with me all along.