Three pigeons and a dove

Sitting at the lake each morning spending time with the Lord,  I have come to understand that if I look up and there is something there that wasn’t there before, I need to pay attention, because the Lord is about to show me something. One particular morning as I looked up from prayer I saw three pigeons.  As I began to observe the them, each pecking the ground, each looking like a typical pigeon, all basically the same grayscale, one of them stepped out of the shade into the light.  Suddenly the emerald green color around its neck became visible and captured my full attention.  I realized it wasn’t until the sun shone upon him that the color became evident.  It was as if the color represented a spiritual gift.

The second pigeon stepped out into the light and glimpses of the emerald green around its neck began to shine.  The gift had become apparent, as if the Lord had come upon it.  The first one came closer and closer and as it did, a glorious royal purple color became visible on its breast beneath the deep emerald throat, and then the crest of its head also turned to the same royal purple…what beauty, what gifts … from the same bird that was a dull gray in the shadows.  The second pigeon stepped back into the shadows after its brief encounter with the sun, and then disappeared completely behind the tree.  I began to gather my pen and paper to capture my lesson for the day and as I looked up again, I saw the pigeon emerging from the other side of the tree closely following a turtle dove that seemed to have come out of nowhere. The second pigeon, exactly the same as the first, still had the same beautiful emerald green throat, and although it was in the sunlight, did not have the royal purple breast or crown… however… it was diligently following closely behind the beautiful white dove. It looked as if it were ushering in the Holy Spirit… our comfort and our guide and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 I continued to watch the third  pigeon in the shadows, but it never came out into the light.  It seemed content to peck away at the ground, feeding itself and being oblivious to anything around it.   As the thoughts raced in my head, I began to write brief notes to remind me of what the Lord was showing me.  After what seemed to be only a couple minutes, I looked up to see what was next.  There was nothing in sight. Not one pigeon or dove.  Those times make you wonder if those birds were ever really there.

I thought of the first pigeon being bold and confident, operating without hesitation in the gifts.  The second a little more reserved but still walking in his gift and the third, either very confident in what it was doing where it was doing it behind the scenes,  too timid to come out into the light to allow the gifts to shine, or maybe even too self absorbed or too content in its own little world to even realize there was anything more.
A few days later, back in my same spot, two pigeons just like the other landed in the same area, one in the sunlight, one in the shade. But as the first pigeon with all its glorious colors or gifts began to walk in a different direction, its colors seem to fade, although still standing in the light, still walking in the same fashion, he suddenly seemed dull and colorless, plain and ordinary.  Everything seemed to be the same, but the colors were no longer showing.  Now even more things to consider … could it be lack of faith from those present, was he going in the wrong direction, was he no longer in the will of God… or was it just Gods perfect timing… maybe the work was complete.

The other pigeon is still standing in the shadows, with no apparent color. Suddenly a breeze begins to blow, the tree limbs begin to sway back and forth allowing the light to shine on the pigeon exactly where he was standing. Glimpses of emerald green, royal purple and flashes of gold  become visible. Over and over, as the previously colorless pigeon stands in his place, the glory of his magnificent colors are made manifest.  Who would have thought?  Who could have known?  Will we stand in judgement asking how or why or be in disbelief because we have seen something supernatural from a very unlikely source?  Different personalities are used for different purposes and  to reach different people in different ways. How do our judgments, our opinions  and our prejudices effect us and keep us from enjoying the fruit of the gifts in front of us based on what we see or think.

 So many times we see people in one light.  If we see them routinely in any particular setting, that is how we think of them.  We tend to limit our view of who they are and what they do and what seems to be their station in life.  We might miss the fact that they are a multifaceted being or that they may be gifted in something entirely different from what we can see or what we know about them.  Then, once we see something different, we may tend to judge or question the authenticity of what they are doing. (A pastor’s gift of knowledge might be questioned because the person receiving the word may think that he just knows the situation.) Just because we have known someone for some time or in one particular capacity, doesn’t mean that a gift that they have had all along might emerge because they have matured in the Lord,  or because they are a willing vessel at the moment the Lord needs someone to use.  It may be a one time thing.  But is it any less authentic or real if it is done through someone you don’t expect it to come through. 

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 1 Cor 12:15-20