Sucked In, Washed Up & Blown Away

Chippie the parakeet was the happiest little bird in the world.  He would sit on a swing in the top half of his cage and sing all day long.  One day Chippie’s owner was cleaning out the bottom of his cage with her vacuum cleaner.  It was while cleaning out the cage that her telephone, located on the same table as Chippie’s cage, began to ring.  In one quick motion she reached for the phone with her left hand while unintentionally raising her right hand.  Instantly Chippie was SUCKED IN!  Chippie went from life being wonderful to literally having his world turned upside down in an instant.  Realizing what had just transpired she immediately hung up the phone and ripped open the vacuum cleaner bag.  As you can imagine, dust went everywhere.  Upon opening the bag she was astonished to find Chippie still alive although completely covered in dust.  She immediately made her way to the bathroom and proceeded to turn the water on wide open in order to clean Chippie up.  Now all the sudden Chippie went from being SUCKED IN to now being WASHED UP!  Chippie immediately began to tremble leading his owner to fear that surely he would catch pneumonia.  She had to dry him off quickly!  She reached underneath the bathroom counter and grabbed her brand new hairdryer.  She proceeded to turn the hairdryer on high in hopes of preventing Chippie from getting sick.  Within a matter of a minute Chippie went from life being wonderful to being SUCKED IN, WASHED UP and now BLOWN AWAY!  A couple days passed when one of the lady’s dearest friends called to check on Chippie.  She reported rather sadly that “Chippie is still alive, but he doesn’t sit on his swing and sing anymore.  All he does is walk around in the bottom of his cage staring at the bottom of the cage.  It seems that Chippie has lost his song."

While we chuckle at the thought of poor Chippie’s dilemma, there really is a lesson to be learned here.  As probably all of us are aware, life truly can change with a phone call.  Your world can be turned upside down without warning.  Many today can relate to being sucked in, washed up and blown away.  Whether it is a telephone call delivering bad news about a loved one, bad news from our Supervisor involving our future employment or the dreaded words out of a Doctor’s mouth, we can all probably relate to Chippie’s situation.

While we would all agree that life can change without warning, the one thing that can never change is God’s love and concern for us.  The Word of God is filled with many precious promises to God’s children.  He has promised to never leave nor forsake us.  He has promised strength and grace to get us through the tough times of life.  He has promised shelter and refuge whenever we face life’s storms.  He has promised an ever present Helper who will walk with us through life’s darkest valleys.  I have preached these truths for over 20 years now, but more importantly, my family and I have personally experienced them over the past two years as we have had to deal with the murder of my wife's mother.  We know exactly what it feels like to be sucked in, washed up and blown away.  But we also know that only way to get through these difficult storms of life is with God's help.     

While none of us knows what the future holds, may we all be reminded today of WHO holds the future!  As a wise old Preacher once said, “Our God can be trusted even when He can’t be tracked.”  To quote the words to a song performed by the Christian group “For Him”, “Though down here I may not understand, I won't let go of the unseen hand, for it holds the reasons why!"