Sometimes a chicken is just a chicken, an anonymous bird that pops out eggs for us or ends up being served on a plate next to dollops of slaw and mashed potatoes. But as I’ve learned, a chicken can also be a constant reminder that God may grant even the most seemingly hopeless requests.
As some of you faithful readers of this column may recall, one of our chickens, Ruby, appeared to be heading to the big coop in the sky after our giant dog frolicked with her a bit too exuberantly. Ruby would’ve punched her ticket to eternity had several things, some quite bizarre, not converged.
Here’s a quick summary of Ruby’s story:
- my grandson HAPPENED to be with my husband when he discovered a severely injured Ruby in the chicken pen;
- my granddaughters came out to see the injured chicken, who appeared to be paralyzed, and I suggested we pray together for God to heal her;
- a physical therapist friend HAPPENED to come over the next day and offered to take Ruby home with her to do “physical therapy” on the bird;
- this friend HAPPENED to host a foster child for one night while Ruby was there and this teenage girl HAPPENED to have previously made a neck splint for a chicken (I’m not kidding);
- the neck splint the girl crafted made it possible for Ruby to eventually stand, eat and drink, so she recovered and was able to return to us.
(If you want more details, go to my website, www.maryanncrum.com, click on “Columns” and then “The King Always Has Another Move,” Oct. 16, 2020.)
Ruby is easy to spot when she’s amongst her fellow brown hens. Our dog had plucked out many of her brown back feathers and the ones that grew back were white, so two-toned Ruby stands out.
That, too, seems providential because it means I can easily see Ruby as I look out my office window or walk by the pen and be reminded, as I always am, that if God arranged all those circumstances to save a chicken, He can certainly take care of me.
As a matter of fact, Jesus even used a bird analogy to describe the Father’s love for us. In Matthew 10, He says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
Am I revisiting the Ruby story because I’m a slacker serving up rerun columns now? No, I’m retelling it because I know how doggone easy it is to forget what God has done and I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to slip into a “but what have you done for me lately?” attitude toward Him.
If I forget what God has done in the past, I’m likely to forget what He can do in the present and future, which might then cause me to fret, panic and lose hope.
In the Old Testament, God often commanded the Israelites to remember His past faithfulness and blessings. He instructed them to build memorials and altars and to tell stories to their children of His provision. That’s still important.
I can’t look at this chicken without remembering all things God did to answer that prayer my grandkids and I prayed. He literally save Ruby’s neck. Every time I see her, I sense God smiling and reminding me, “Don’t fear, Mary Ann; you’re more valuable than many chickens.”
And so, too, are you, my friend.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that You have done; I ponder the work of Your hands.— Psalm 143:5