Woodpecker Drilling

For some reason I have been more than conscious of the woodpeckers around the farm in these recent days.  Occasionally, I see one on the trunk of a pecan tree working away as if it is sure tomorrow is not going to be coming.  But, most of time, it is what I hear that alerts me to their presence.  Throughout the day I hear their drumming going on down in the  branch which is a sure indicator that some woodpecker is drilling away for lunch or supper.  If there is any bird in the bird family which seems to constantly have a hard time of life, surely it is the woodpecker.

 

There are times when it seems to me that I have something in common with this red headed bird.  I know what it is to run into such difficulty that it seems to me that I am beating my head against some hard immovable object.  No matter what I do and no matter how hard I work, things do not seem to get any better.  It just ends up being me beating my head against the old proverbial wall.  And like anyone, in those moments I long for an easier way and often ask God to do some removing miracle. 

 

I suppose the Apostle Paul must have felt some of this when he wrote the Corinthian Christians about what he called his thorn in the flesh.  "Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.'" II Corinthians 12:8)   What Paul is saying is that nothing changed.  The thorn remained.  All he got was an assurance that grace would finally overcome and prevail.  Since God often chooses not to remove some things we have been beating our head against, it must be true that there is something about the difficulty which will finally bring some measure of nurturing to our soul as surely as the constant drilling of the woodpecker brings nurture to his body.