Surrounded by Tell-tale Signs

I was working in the kitchen this afternoon when I heard the plaintive cry of the Cooper's hawk which inhabits the wild assortment of trees behind our house and in the vacant lot next door.  I stopped what I was doing to listen closely.  There was the sad cry again.  Now that I know what the hawk sounds like, I can identify his voice.  And it seems that I am even more aware of his presence.

I snuck out quietly onto the back porch, hoping not to disturb him.  One time the hawk was sitting on the roof of our detached garage, so close that it startled both the hawk and my husband as he left for work.  I now stood silently in the porch, listening to the hawk, and trying to follow the sound to spot him in the trees.   But in the lush display of leaves this summer, he remained audible but invisible to my eyes.  He was there.  That much I knew, even though I could not see him right before me.

The backyard appeared as motionless as a still-life painting.  When the hawk is around, it is as if all living creatures play freeze-tag and hold their breath until the predator departs.  The bird feeder stood alone and unwanted like the last item on a clearance rack, not a bird (or squirrel) in sight.  Not a single squirrel traveled on the "squirrel highway," as our three-year-old granddaughter calls the large electric cables strung from pole to pole along the property line.  And the rabbits had scurried into safer yards.

I know now how to recognize  the tell-tale signs of the hawk, but do I recognize the marks of God's Presence as readily?  Ahhhh, songs of grace and transformation displayed in those around me.  I know that tune.  The stirrings of His goodness in what I experience.   An awareness of His power, even in what appears to be a proverbial empty field.  When I am sensitive to His Presence, it changes what I see, how I feel, and what I do.  I can go forth on a strength that is not my own, a wisdom deeper than I can know, and a peace that passes all understanding.  Be not dismayed.  I am with you.  Those are the most repeated words in the entire Bible.

I need not pray for His Presence.  But just for an awareness that He is already here.

Fear not,
   for I am with you,
be not dismayed,
   for I am your God;
I will strengthen you,
   I will help you,
I will uphold you
   with My victorious right hand.

                         Isaiah 41.10

Seek the LORD and His strength,
seek His presence continually!

                          1 Chronicles 16.11