A Funny Chick Story

Last Sunday a funny thing happened. I hope you get a chuckle out of it too :)

Doug and I were trying to get morning chores done before church, but since Dad and Mom were on vacation, it became obvious that we wouldn’t get everything done in time. Since I help lead the songs during the Sunday service, he volunteered to finish up the rest of the work here while I got cleaned up and went to church.

He drove up the road to take care of the broiler chicks and had a question about something once he arrived, so he called me and had me on speaker phone. As I was answering his question, he said all of a sudden most of the chicks came running towards the end of the brooder where he was standing, all of them with their heads up listening!

You might think they heard the master’s voice and came running, but I don’t notice them reacting this way when I’m there in the flesh, so who knows? Maybe they were just curious as to how one person was making the sound of two voices, haha!

It does make for a cool spiritual illustration, though. About listening for the Master’s voice.

In the Bible (John 10), Jesus tells his followers that he is the good shepherd, and his sheep hear his voice. He talks about how the shepherd lays down his very life for his sheep. Jesus did this. For us.

We are ultimately powerless to rescue ourselves from the darkness that seeks to separate us from true Light, Life and Love, but Jesus—through surrender and sacrifice—made a way for us, and beckons each of us to follow him out of the darkness…and to listen to what he wants to say to us.

It would be incongruous for a God who loves you enough to die for you to not want to talk to you! There are many ways we can hear his voice…a still, small voice (not necessarily—or often, even—audible), an impression in your spirit, a resonating within you when you hear or read something, or sometimes the words on a page in the Bible come to life for you. He often speaks through creation as well, revealing his heart. We just have to pay attention. Maybe remove some distractions and posture ourselves to receive.

The bottom line is, it’s hard to hear if we’re not listening. These chicks were LISTENING! They came RUNNING at the sound of the master’s voice. And nearly every eye was FOCUSED on the source.

Not too many days from now, we will gather and transport all those growing chicks from the brooder to the pasture. Life has been pretty good for them in the brooder. Food. Water. Warmth. But there is more to life than this! Blue skies. Bugs and worms and grasshoppers. Sunshine (and probably some rain too). Green pastures.

All the days ordained for them, we will give them the best life here we possibly can, sometimes even at the expense of our own comfort. It’s what a good shepherd does.

So it is with the Good Shepherd. He came that we could have life. Abundant life. He cares about every area of your life. If there are any sources of concern, anxiety, or heaviness you’re dealing with, try asking him what he has to say about it. Maybe his words will surprise you.