With the responsibility of writing an article once a month for Help4Today, I’m always looking for things that God can show me and maybe give me an idea for, whether it is my Bible reading or in my daily life. Such a time happened a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon. It was a very blustery Sunday afternoon not our type of weather. After dropping my girls off at Youth Hour, I proceeded to find a parking spot. Bracing myself to make a break for the church building, something caught my eye and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. I wrote down the thoughts in my notebook where I keep all my ideas, happy that I had a thought to write about.  But when it came time to write, I never had a peace about writing the article. So, I put it aside and waited for another time. Such a time came this week. I found my notes, and it was like the Lord said, “Now is time to write it.” So please allow me to tell you how I got a lesson from the bluebird.

As I had mentioned, it was windy here in Santa Clara. Really windy!  We all needed coats–real coats, not just the pretty kind, the warm kind.  The wind brought with it a chill that cut right through to the bones of my fellow Californians.  I bundled up and decided to brace myself for the short distance to the auditorium. There huddled on a branch of a tree in front of the church, was a bluebird seeking shelter from the winds.  Now, I am not a nature lover or bird watcher. Other than the Lord, I have no idea how I would have noticed that bird.

At that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Even the birds know to stay near the house of God in the midst of a storm.” To me, this windy storm was not life-threatening, but to that bird it was. Because of the God-given instinct, that bird knew it was not the time to fly.  It was time to hunker down and stay somewhere safe. 

We are currently in one of those hunkered down moments. We don’t know when this “storm” will end. The lessons I was taught that cold February afternoon was twofold. 

Stay close to God and things of God

When the winds blow, the trees that have no roots fall.  I want my faith to have roots and want it to stand the test of time. 

Be Still and Know

Being still is difficult for me to do.  I like to have a project, a book, or something to keep me busy.  Right now, it is time to be still. Currently, my time to stop every day is at 9 AM for our pastor’s update, and then at 9:30, we pray. We pray for a host of things because we know we serve an Almighty God.

To me, it seemed strange. I had an article several weeks ago and yet there was no peace to write it. Now with the beauty of hindsight, I can look back and see why God wanted me to wait to write such a thing.  I had no concept on that cold February afternoon of where I would be right now. “Sheltering in place”–what a crazy thought. Now I want to be like the bluebird to stay close to God and the things of God, and to be still and know. 

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Miriam Chung, Christian School Teacher

Mrs. Chung grew up around the work of the ministry and now has the privilege of teaching at the North Valley Baptist Schools. She and her husband faithfully teach young people and are a vital asset to the ministry of NVBC.