Frustrated, tired, discouraged, disheartened…I was in the middle of one of those times. Praying, trying to follow God’s direction, yet it felt like everything was going wrong – big stuff, little stuff, you name it. I spent a lot of time grumbling to God. Thankfully, my God is big enough to handle grumbling even when there should be praising instead.
I came home from a long, exhausting day at work knowing I had 6-7 hours of cooking ahead of me to prepare for our weekly church breakfast. In my bad mood instead of praising God for all my blessings, I grumbled on my way to outside chores (feeding livestock, closing the chicken coop for the night, etc). Counting the poultry to make sure they were all safely in their coop, I found a duck missing from the flock. Now, on top of everything else, I had to search for a wayward duck!
Sitting Duck
I went to get a more powerful flash light, grumbling the whole way. I was at first hopeful that the search would be quick. After all, she was a big white duck that could not fly and usually did not wander too far from the coop. I searched for about 30 minutes in the dark in ever widening circles with no success. At this point, I was beyond frustrated and tired, feeling neglected by God. Was He was even hearing my prayers? My response was to cry out in anger that on top everything else He was going to take my duck. She was an innocent duck. The least He could have done was reveal her location so I could get her into the safety of coop. She could not survive a night out in the surrounding forest. She was the proverbial “sitting duck” unprotected in a forest with foxes, coyotes, mountain lions and bear. I stormed into the house to cook breakfast…still grumbling and frustrated.
Miracle
After sleep, prayer and a much needed attitude adjustment, I finished breakfast preparation and headed out for morning chores. When I arrived at the coop, my missing white duck was sitting at the door quietly waiting for me. I laughed out loud at God’s miracle duck and gentle reminder that He did hear every one of my prayers (even the one about the duck;). Upon closer examination, I discovered her survival was more miraculous than just making it through the night. She had two puncture marks on her neck. At some point some predator, probably a fox or coyote, actually had her by the neck. God had literally snatched her back from the jaws of death!
Now when I see white ducks, I am reminded that God hears and loves me always.
