God's Amazing Love! It's Much More Wondrous Than the Kakapo Which Can't Fly and the Bumblebee that Can!
Read: Genesis 1:20-25; Luke 1:39-45
Yes, it is the second week in July. The fireworks have ceased for another year, and we know what that means. It is time to say Merry Christmas in July! To celebrate this milestone, my husband and I made our first small Christmas gifts to go in the gift boxes. It is my desire that we try to make other little presents so that when December comes around, I'm not "wondering while I'm wandering". Trying to put the gift boxes together at the last minute. I make no promises; however, thinking of Christmas caused me to think of some unique Christmas presents God has given us. His animals that convey truths about His love that we celebrate at Christmas. Let's learn from two interesting creatures the Lord created. The kakapo parrot which shows us that God can't be put in a box. He often amazes us through using what the world sees as strange. Then there is the bumblebee that reminds us that God does the impossible.
The kakapo lives in New Zealand. Until the 1950s, this odd bird was thought to have gone extinct; however, that isn't the case. He still is living in his native land. What makes him odd? To begin with, this bird, unlike most others, sleeps during the day. He doesn't help his mate. After she chooses him, the female does all of the nest building. Unusual; however, the most interesting thing to me about this creature is that it weighs in at five pounds, and of course, its heft makes it unable to fly. Not traits that would make it likely to thrive and survive if survival is for the most fit. The Lord certainly put together an unlikely and surprising creature when He thought up the kakapo.
With this in mind, let's look into the Christmas story to see how the Almighty One also used unlikely people. Aren't we glad that He thought outside of the box when He chose to do His work through what the world calls unlikely and strange ones? These are often the ones who are permitted to participate in the sweetest and most magnificent story that has ever been told.
There are so many places we could go now, but I have to choose only one. It could have been the shepherds. Those men whom the hierarchy of the world thought to be undesirable and certainly not worthy of telling others about the birth of Messiah. They were not even permitted to testify in court. It could have been Joseph. Such an ordinary man who didn't have any kind of a pedigree in society and who had no riches or social status. He and Mary brought the sacrifice for purification that the poor were permitted to bring, Luke 2:22-24. So, who to choose as the unlikely one out of the story? I chose John, the babe in Elizabeth's womb. Before He declared publicly that Jesus was the Lamb of God, John 1:29, John was lauding the Promised One prior to either of their births. Talk about unlikely. Imagine that day that Luke tells us about when Mary came to the hill country and greeted her cousin. The young virgin had just recently received the shocking news that she would be found to be pregnant with Jesus through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, Luke 1:26-35. Amazing words that meant that this child came to be within her without her having been with a man. This was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened in Isaiah 7:14. How surprising it must have been when little unborn John leaped for joy within his mother. His way of expressing the wonder that the Messiah Who was also unborn, was there with him. What a herald John was before he could even talk. His joy said it all. Who would have thought that the religious leadership would fail to look into the birth of Jesus while an unborn baby would rejoice because of Jesus' presence. John honored Jesus even when He was still sheltered within Mary's womb! What about the religious leaders? The ones who would seem to be the likely candidates to laud Jesus after His birth? They knew that Bethlehem was the promised birthplace for the Promised One. Yet, they never went to investigate the possibility that He had come. Instead, God used the unlikely one.
The bumblebee. This is the little creature we want to visit the garden this time of year; yet, according to Creation Moments, scientists still do not understand how this creation of God can fly. The bumblebee flaps his little wings 120 times per minute, and he eats the number of calories found in 160 candy bars each hour. Snickers anyone? His big body shouldn't be able to fly, but God gave him the ability to do so. Nothing is impossible with our God, Luke 1:37, and the bumblebee is the visual aid.
What a picture of Christmas. God did the impossible in so many ways; so, what to choose from all of the impossible things God did? I can't choose. Why? It is all so amazing, and yet many don't even want us to sing about God's love that He expressed in such an ordinary yet miraculous way. It was impossible for God to come from heaven to earth; however, He did it, 2 Corinthians 8:9. It was impossible for God to become a man and still be God; yet, He did it, John 14:6. It was impossible for God to come in the way and in the time that He promised to come hundreds of years before it happened. However, at the right time He did it, Galatians 4:4. It was impossible to make a way to demonstrate God's love to an undeserving world; however, He did it, John 3:16. It was impossible to make me a new creation and erase the record of my sin. Those committed in my past, those I have committed today and those I will commit in the days to come; however, He did it, 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 43:25.
What a beautiful earthly picture the bumblebee is. No wonder, Thelma Wells, Women of Faith speaker almost always wore a sparkling bumblebee pin. A reminder that God did the impossible when He brought her through the very difficult things in her life such as having been locked in a closet and having had doors slammed in her face due to her race. Though she should not have been able to fly because of all she had been through, God did the impossible, and she told about His power and love with great joy. Her prayer for people and her motto for life were the same. "In Christ you can "BEE" your best."
God is still using the unlikely and doing what the world says is impossible. The truths of Christmas and the lessons from His animals are His reminder for us. There are things the world would say we can't do, but if it is in God's plan, He will accomplish what the world says is impossible, Psalm 138:8. How good God is to have placed little lessons within His world. What a joy to celebrate Christmas, throughout the year, whenever Jesus reminds us of His love.
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