Once upon a time, there was a little songbird who knew her purpose in life was to sing joy into the forest.

There was a time when she could hardly wait to wake, perch on her favorite branch high in the forest canopy and sing her heart out.

All the hopping, fluttering, bouncing critters would tell her how her songs made their day so much better. But one day, her songs just…stopped.

She’d wake, and the dawn, though orange with radiance, would seem gray to her. Once as weightless as her own feathers, she suddenly felt she was made of lead, heavy with something she couldn’t describe.

Her songs were silent.

Where once she’d flutter to her favorite branch, now she hopped up to it one twig at a time, barely using her wings at all. She was created for more, she was certain, but this heaviness silenced her song and stole her vibrant energy.

The forest smiled at her, encouraging her to keep trying. The forest animals still stopped by to tell her how her songs inspired them, the ones she used to sing. But still, no singing would come. She tried so very hard, but not a single note would form in her throat. Every day this continued.

She just didn’t understand what was happening. Was she broken? Had her purpose changed?

Then one day she heard the high and powerful screech of Eagle, soaring so far above her the sun blinded her as she tried to peer between the leaves to see the great winged bird soaring overhead. Eagle seemed so brave and creative and light, very much unlike the little songbird.

So the songbird waited for her chance to speak to Eagle, and her chance finally arrived when Eagle perched near her, sharply scouting the ground with piercing eyes.

Her white feathers made her look so clean and smart, so motivated and productive. Next to Eagle, the little songbird felt small and weak and quite pathetic. But she raised her voice confidently and asked Eagle if she might have a moment of her time to ask a question.

Eagle smiled, cutting her eyes sharply at something moving on the forest floor. Songbird sensed she must ask her questions quickly before Eagle plunged toward the prey.

How is it you fly so high, so sure? Don’t you get tired? She asked. From where do you get your motivation? You are always so elegant and glide so powerfully over the pines. How do you do it?

Eagle straightened, ready to take flight, but just before launching she looked the little songbird straight in her tiny, earnest eyes and said, I tell you the truth, I do not strive at all, nor do I muster motivation for myself. I am heavy and my wings are terribly wide; flapping them all day would surely tire me out. I do not even try. I wait for the Wind, and the Wind carries me on her gales high above the earth, allowing me to glide from one invisible hand to the next as Wind blows from God’s storehouse. I do not wait for motivation, little songbird. I was created to fly, so each day I trust that God has opened His storehouse for me and released the invisible Wind, and in faith, I leap out. Every day, it catches me, and I shall ride it until the day it is no longer there waiting for me. You are a songbird, created to sing. Open your mouth and sing, little bird. Trust that God will release your song from His storehouse.

~

©Sally Anne Gist/sallyannewrites.com

---

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.

~ Philippians 2:13