"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." Matthew 18:20
I am truly blessed to live in a tree-filled neighborhood, which isn't as easy to find in the South as in the North. The shade is much appreciated in the HOT summers and keep my home snug in the colder winter months. (I couldn't write cold winter months because a New Yorker never forgets what a real cold winter is.) Yet the best part about all the trees is the birds. I have all kinds of birds: cardinals, finches, a blue jay, robins, and mourning doves, among many more. Recently I had a blue bird living in a birdhouse in my backyard.
I love watching them in my yard and trees. I love watching them swoop and chase each other. I adore the mourning dove couples that are always together. I really love when it seems like every cardinal in North Carolina has descended on my yard.
As much as I love watching I also learn from them. Have you ever seen a group of birds chasing a larger bird, like a hawk through the air? The hawk was trying to gain a quick meal and the birds gang up and chase it off. I've seen them chase squirrels and hear them screeching at cats. They will take turns and swoop down to peck at their enemy. Birds see the enemy and they unite.
We have an enemy and yet when we see him we try to fight alone. We keep his schemes quiet and for some reason we feel quilt or shame over what he has done. We don't chase him off. We don't screech loudly to call for help. We don't swoop in a peck away at him. No, we tend to hide, be quiet, and let him peck away at us.
But we can gather together and fight him. We can pray together. We can comfort and encourage each other. When we come together in His name He promises that He is there. Ultimately He fights for us, but He asks us to come together and unite. He wants us to share our burdens with each other. He wants us to pray with each other. He wants us to meet together and listen to Him as He shares with us. These are some of the ways to fight back against the enemy. He has given us authority, in His name, over the enemy and He has given us others to help us do so.
Next time you feel like going it alone call out to others instead and fight like the birds do, together.
