Like a Bird Alone

August 18

(Psalm 102:1-7 NIV) “Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. {2} Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. {3} For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. {4} My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. {5} Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones. {6} I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. {7} I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.”

(2 Corinthians 1:8-11 NIV)  "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. {9} Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. {10} He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, {11} as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

Sometimes we go through times when it feels like we are completely alone. We can end up like a “bird alone on a roof”, our loneliness accentuated by the setting sun of our life. Our afflictions get the best of us and they bring us down. We feel faint. We are in great distress and not even God is listening to our lament. Our spiritual legs go out from under us. This metaphor rich Psalm captures this desperate feeling. Like smoke, we are blown away by the wind. Our bones ache and burn. Our heart feels like the brown grass of summer with no water in sight. We fail to eat and our frame shrivels. We begin to look like a child of famine. Like the lonely owl, we fly alone through the ruins of our life. But God is not finished with us yet. He has delivered us before and He will deliver us again -- even if it is into the arms of Jesus. Set your hope on the Lord. Only He can deliver you. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day