"Professor Hawk"

 

“Professor Hawk”

 

One morning this past spring Karen saw a hawk perched on the corner of our neighbor’s roof while we were eating breakfast. As we admired this stately bird two blue jays kept buzzing it and returning to a nearby tree. Since hawks are predatory by nature our guess was they were warning their enemy to stay away from their nest and in so doing safeguarding their young.

As we discussed this “God hug” we saw two spiritual lessons. Interestingly, one puts the hawk in a positive light while the other a negative one. In Scripture one name for Christ is “…The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David….” (Revelation 5:5) but a lion is also used as a picture of Satan (“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion….”—1 Peter 5:8) and ravens are classified as unclean birds (Deuteronomy 14:14) which were used of God to feed His prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:4,6) so this shouldn’t be seen as conflicting. On the one hand, the hawk stood fast while the blue jays were doing their thing. Sometimes our archenemy tries to distract and entice us to do his bidding but we must remain resolute and not lose our focus. Paul called on his readers to “…stand firm. Let nothing move you.” (1 Corinthians 15:58) “…so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.” (Ephesians 6:13). Only as we are “…strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10) can we “…stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11).

The other way we looked at our fine feathered teacher was that Satan is always waiting for an opportunity to besiege us in our times and conditions of weakness. Those blue jay eggs were defenseless without the protection of their parents. (Several years ago a hawk destroyed a gourd in our yard to get at the wren eggs inside while the adult birds were gone.) When Cain was angry that his offering had been rejected God warned him, “…If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door….” (Genesis 4:7), suggesting a picture of an animal waiting to attack its prey when it was most vulnerable. How can we protect ourselves? “Resist (the devil), standing firm in the faith….” (1 Peter 5:9, emphasis added). To do so we must know God’s Word (Jesus used it during His temptation) as well as the tactics the evil one is apt to use and “…not (be) unaware of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

God can use any person, object or activity to teach us His truth, including animals (see the earlier article “Professor Gus”). Who (or what) might be your professor today?

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim and Karen McMillan