Some years ago on our last night of vacation, I asked my husband if we could go to the beach one last time and stay long enough to catch the sunset. While he got settled in his beach chair and engrossed in a book, I decided to walk down the beach to the jetty. It was on my way back to where my husband was sitting that I saw a pelican standing there on the sand. I walked right up to snap his picture. He didn't fly away. He didn't run into the sea. It was then that I suspected something was wrong with it. I stayed awhile trying to shoo him and to see if I could tell what was wrong. He waddled closer to the water. Suddenly, a wave came and knocked the pelican onto its back. It flailed there in the surf, its neck stretched out, its wings flailing in the water, fighting but not able to turn upright. My stomach felt nauseous watching it. I thought it was going to drown right before my eyes. When the waves subsided it managed to get upright and to get back onto the sand. It just stood there, immobile. I finished walking back to my husband and told him about the pelican. He went to look for himself and came back reporting that he could see a fish hook in the pelican's head. I felt helpless, not knowing the 911 to call for birds that need emergency assistance. We watched the sunset and left the beach, leaving the poor pelican there in the sand. The next day we flew home.
On the following Sunday morning, the whole memory of the pelican came back. The Lord used the vivid picture of the struggling pelican to speak to my heart about hooks. Hooks in our lives can be things such as unhealed hurts, unmet needs and unresolved issues. The things that have broken our heart can become hooks if they aren't dealt with and allowed to heal. These hooks can affect our ability to handle the storms in life that come our way, Even the smaller waves that we should be able to sail through seem to bowl us over and knock us down. We feel we will surely drown if we get hit by one more wave. We flail and we fight, but we just can't seem to get on our feet and we surely can't fly. We need Someone to help us. (Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, August 11th at Woman to Woman Ministries, where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)
still following,
Your posts always go right to the meat of things, and jog the mind. You should write a book, I think. Anyway, I do have some hooks that need to be gotten rid. When we fished, my hubby in later days decided to use pliers to push down that barb, and in that way we weren't going to kill the fish by trying to remove a swallowed hook. It worked as we always did catch and release. The hook came out so much easier. Your post reminds me that I've been pushing some hooks back out as I am reminded to Love One Another, but sometimes the forgiving is the hard part, but working on it. Have a nice Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a vivid picture of how those "hooks" in our lives can destroy us. How thankful I am that God heals those hurts and restores me, if I turn to him for help. Have a blessed week!
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