Cone of Protection
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
When someone steps out on our back porch, it will not be long before they hear a buzzing sound and realize they have been buzzed by the many hummingbirds that come to the feeders around our home.
My wife is quite faithful in making hummingbird food and making sure the food is fresh.
When fresh food is available, she goes out on the porch and calls to the birds. Many of them will come right up and hover there waiting for her to hang the last feeder. Then the feasting begins. Hummingbirds are some of the smallest birds that populate this earth, and they are certainly amazing and beautiful little creatures.
Some hummingbirds have also learned where the best places to build their nest are.
The Black-Chinned Hummingbirds that live in Arizona have learned that if they build their nest beneath hawk hunting grounds they will be much safer than if they build in other locations.
In the magazine Science Advances a team of researchers detailed a three yearlong study of hummingbirds that build their nest in a hawk hunting grounds versus those who do not. They found 12 hawk nests as well as the hummingbirds who lived below them in their nests. The two types of hawks are known to find their food by looking down from their perch in the tree and when they spot a jay or other prey they drop down and snatch a meal. They don’t target hummingbird most likely because of size or their speed.
Out of the 342 hummingbird nests that were studied only 20 were outside what they called the cone of protection, and the hummingbird eggs were 80% safer from the Mexican Jays who love to snack on hummingbird eggs.
Mexican Jays tend to fly high over where they see hawk nests and thus don’t see the hummingbird nests and their eggs. The interesting thing is that the closer the hummingbirds were to the center of the cone of protecting the safer they were.
It seems to me that the hummingbirds can teach us about the best place to be when it comes to our walk with God. Psalms 17:8 states: "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings."
When we are in the shadow of God and the closer we are to God we will be safe.
No matter what evil comes our way and even happens to us, we can rest assured that God is walking with us through both times of joy and times of sadness.
As you think of growing spiritually, please know that God wants you to be so close to Him that you are totally safe. Jesus when he was weeping over Jerusalem and the hardness of the hearts of the people stated these words: “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37
Halfway through this year take a moment, pause, reflect on your walk with Jesus and your growth in Him and know that He is your cone of protection, and He wants you as close as possible to Him.