Zambia
“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
Who among all these does not know, that the hand of the Lord has done this;
In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?
Job 12 : 7-10
What a privilege to experience this first hand!
Early this morning while sitting next to the Zambezi River, these two Hawks decided to perch in the tree above me. Slowly I brought my camera up and started shooting away.
It was only after the action that the lesson became clear. For many years I have observed nature, studied scripture and have seen and heard the Lord speak through His wonderful creation.
As my camera clicked away the hawks graciously took off now having broken twigs in their beaks.
I watched as they glided further down to another clump of trees where they commenced building their nest. Backwards and forwards they flew each time coming away with another twig for the nest.
It was not long when a crow arrived on the scene, and with some audacity started stealing the twigs from the nest that the Hawks were building. Gallantly the Hawks set out to defend their work effort.
Swooping, diving, climbing using all the elements at their disposal.
It seemed as if the Hawks were determined to wear the crow down when out of the blue a small Butcher bird arrives and has the audacity to interfere in the great duel that was playing out in the skies above me. While the Hawks are ferocious and yet gracious in battle, the Butcher bird was quick and agile.
Eventually the crow backed off and the Butcher bird flew away, the Hawks now taking up vigilance in the tall tree across from me, resting and contemplating before commencing their building project.
While marvelling at what I had just observed it dawned on me that this very picture that played itself out before me is how our adversary will harass our every effort as we obey the teachings of Christ, as we Go and declare His message of Salvation to a dying world. He will attempt to distract us, delay us and frustrate every step we take.
Just like that crow and even the Butcher bird….you see “it’s the little foxes that spoil the vine.” (Song of Solomon 2:15).
I thank my Lord for encouraging me and ‘speaking’ to me through His Word and His Creation, knowing that as we build together, Lesley and I in unity and in prayer need to be vigilant.
My prayer is that God will open our and your eyes to see the enemy approaching before he can establish a foothold in our lives and that we will walk victorious giving Honour and Glory to our King.
Johan and Lesley Leach live and minister in remote Chavuma, Zambia, equipping teams to cross the Zambezi River into the isolated and remote area between the river and the Angola border and share the gospel in the villages.
