Sitting Ducks

Have you ever done a “heroic deed” or at least felt like you did one? Have you ever felt like you have stopped a crime, or an innocent thing from getting hurt? You feel as if you saved humanity and society from your magnificent act of kindness?

Well that’s how I felt yesterday. It was an ordinary day, I decided to take my dog for a walk and little did I know, I would be in the greenbelt for a longer time than I had initially expected.

I get down to the river at the bottom and there out of the ordinary were 1…2…3……10 small ducks. Tiny and black with white touching.

It was rad to see God’s awesome creation, so small, but yet so exquisite. I toyed with the idea of being Mr Rescue man and go in and save them for they were stuck in the middle with big rocks around all sides. I came to the conclusion they were either going to die by the current against the rocks or starvation.

I decided to help them, and took off my sandals and got into the water. (By this time my dog had high-tailed it outer there) I get in and try to figure out how to get all 10 out of there. I realised that the only way was to pick up each individual duck and put them on the top of the rock, so they could swim off to where the mother was.

If you ever try to do this at home, remember that small ducks like these don’t bite, I mean I was scared of these puny things but then I realised that I’m just slightly bigger and smarter than they were.

I salvaged about seven of them and the other two where difficult to get, after about 15 minutes I had got nine and the last one climbed into a rock so I couldn’t get it.

I then thought, my work here is done, and I took my sandals and headed home, dog-less. I thanked God for an awesome opportunity to save some small creatures.

The next day I did the same thing, taking my dog for a walk, I went to check if they were still there and were ok. I got to the river and saw 3 of them in the same place stuck again! I thought really don’t these things learn? I called my mom and we both got them outer there, I looked around for the other seven but couldn’t find any of them.

When I was leaving I saw a huge falcon fly out of the tree above where I were standing and its wing span was about 2feet and then it hit me like a brick wall,(not the bird…) what if all those birds I saved yesterday, got devoured by that falcon?

I then started to thing, why God why? I did such a “good deed” yesterday and now you let them die hours afterwards. It’s just not fair is it; I now get onto how this affects us.

Back track abit and remember the one I didn’t catch the first time, “the one that got away” oh the one that got away, we use this cliché way too much.

Why do we think about the one that got away and not about the other nine that we manage to save? I mean would we rather save nine or loose one? In Christianity it’s the same, getting nine into heaven is better than loosing one. Right?

So why then do we still constantly beat ourselves up by not saying something exhorting to someone, when we had the chance? Or when we miss an opportunity why do we keep thrashing at ourselves. We are so worried about what people think of us, that we pull our own self-esteem down by thinking that we are such failures as Christians, and don’t deserve to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is right we don’t, I mean what can we offer God? What can we give to him that he doesn’t already have?

The thing is He loves, cares, prospers, treasures and flourishes us. We mean so much to him that He actually gave his son to us for an important reason, for a greater relationship with us.

So then we come to the postulation that when we mess up or don’t do what is right every time, He forgives us. Its just like the duck, God wasn’t angry that I didn’t save the one duck; He was pleased that I saved the other nine.

Even though the other seven may have died that same day, it essentially doesn’t matter.

We just have to remember that it’s not what we don’t do; it’s what we do that matters. Whether that’s a good deed here or a complement there, it’s all good, and God appreciates that.

We must not be, excuse the pun but “sitting ducks” we need to go out there and do God’s will.

Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

2 Cor 5:12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is in the heart.

Therefore we must humble ourselves before God and thank him in every circumstance. Anything that we do that receives Glory is not from ourselves but from God.