How Much More Will He Care for You?
Our house backs on a seven-acre pond with a bounty of wildlife sharing the land with us. Among them are generations of geese who faithfully visit us every morning at the crack of dawn, confident they will be given their daily bread. The most recent brood appeared a couple of months ago with nine teensy goslings closely guarded by a hovering papa and mama. We would anxiously count their heads every morning to make sure all nine little ones were present and accounted for—something of a feat with their little heads bobbing up and down like ping pong balls.
One day, Mama Goose lagged behind her brood, noticeably limping and even toppling over at times. My heart ached at the thought of this mother of nine being unable to attend to her little ones, as well as at the thought of the huge responsibility Papa Goose had in overseeing all nine by himself. We simply prayed, “Lord, heal this precious creature and enable her to continue to care for her family.” It seemed quite unlikely this would happen because her injury appeared to be significant, making her vulnerable to the predators who also live around us.
We noticed she painstakingly limped back to the water, just floating there as her mate accompanied the goslings up to the house for their daily feedings. Whenever we saw this little family, we continued to pray that she would be strengthened and healed by the hand of her Creator. Lo and behold, just a few days later she came back onto the ground, walking gingerly toward us. Within three or four days, she had completely regained her mobility, walking just as she had before she was hurt. Our almighty Creator had fully restored her body.
What we didn’t know was that this was only the first act of an unfolding drama. Shortly thereafter, one of the nine wee ones appeared to have been attacked by a predator, the left side of his face noticeably disfigured. What puzzled us, however, was the disdain with which Mama Goose treated this offspring. She would aggressively run in his direction, flapping her wings, pecking at him as if to imply he was no longer wanted in her family.
Being a mother myself, I found this not only unacceptable but downright heartbreaking. I began tossing crumbs his way, crouching down, making eye contact, talking soothingly to him to make sure he knew at least somebody loved him. Once again, we prayed for God’s protection, healing, and restoration for this precious little guy. Over the course of a few days, his face was healed, Mama stopped harassing him, and he became so trusting of us that he boldly set foot over the threshold into our house.
But Act Three would supercede the other two. Hustling up toward the house at sunrise, another one of the goslings sported what appeared to be a five-inch clump of seaweed dangling like a pendant from his neck. On closer inspection, we discovered he had been snagged by a fishing hook, the line wrapping around his neck. Every attempt to eat was hindered by the obstacle impeding his progress.
At first, it was rather amusing to observe his creativity in trying to disentangle himself, like watching someone in a restaurant discretely trying to extract a piece of spinach with a toothpick. But what was at first just an inconvenience for him morphed into a life-threatening emergency when he somehow got the hook snared in his beak with the line wrapped around his webbed foot. The poor little guy could no longer eat and walked as if he had failed his sobriety test.
This time, we were flummoxed. Twice before, we had witnessed God’s intervention and healing hand, first with Mama Goose and then with the disfigured gosling. But now, we could see no way of escape, short of a miracle. Having gained the trust of all nine goslings and even their parents through weeks of faithfully feeding them, we decided to use bread as a lure to see if the entrapped one would come close enough for us to cut the line. Armed with a strong pair of scissors, I carefully extended my hand, managing to grasp the line restraining him but unable to cut through it.
This time, we asked for the angels of the Lord to help us. While I doubt geese have guardian angels, I am confident we do and know they are sent by God to assist us. But the situation only seemed to get worse as the little fellow could barely hold his beak above water. Reluctantly leaving the scene that morning for our daily bike ride, I told my husband we could try again when we got back to the house.
Returning an hour later, we saw two young teens paddling on the water in a small boat. They had seen the gosling in distress, wondering what was wrong. As my husband explained the situation, they quickly rowed over to the floundering little creature trying to stay above water. Using a pair of fishing scissors, one of the boys expertly cut the line, freeing the captive. I don’t know if they were angels or just generous-spirited young men, but I assured them they were the answer to our prayers.
Psalm 4:8 declares, You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet. While in the scheme of this life on earth, the wellbeing of a goose may not be in the top ten on our list of priorities, I know my faith was strengthened every bit as much as Mama Goose’s gait as the God of compassion extended His hand to heal her through our very simple, childlike prayer. I am certain my heart for the weak and marginalized of the human variety received a boost of confidence as we observed the disfigured little gosling fully restored to his fold through simple tender, loving care. And I’m utterly amazed at how our Lord dispatched help in the form of two teens in a boat who just happened to have the necessary equipment to extricate a tortured little creature from the fowler’s snare.
In Matthew 6:26, Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” If God hears a prayer for a goose, how much more will He hear a prayer for you and me? I believe our Father loves when we see opportunities to join Him in taking dominion over the works of His hands, restoring His creation to health and wholeness.
As members of MICN’s Ambassadorial Prayer Team, we are blessed with these opportunities every week, coming alongside pastors and leaders through compassionate listening and fervent prayer. Our desire is to offer those on the front lines of ministry a safe, secure place to confidentially unload their burdens, bringing them to Jesus as our Healer and Restorer. We welcome hearing from you, whatever your needs and concerns may be.
Jan de Chambrier
MICN Prayer Ambassador
If you have a prayer request of any nature for the APT, feel free to contact Jan at jan@micn.org. We want to serve all members of MICN through the ministry of intercession and will hold your requests in confidence.
