BY PASTOR JËAN ROSS
The Honey Guide is a bird the size of a robin that lives in east Africa. It eats all kinds of insects, but it is especially fond of honeybee grubs. But getting them is not so easy. The wild bees of Africa are dangerous and live in secluded areas. Although the Honey Guide has a way of finding them, it does not dare enter the hive unaided. Even if it could drive off the bees, its slender, delicate bill could not penetrate their nests, which are in hollow trees or clefts of rocks. So it gets a friend to help with the task.
In northern Kenya, for example, men from the Boran tribe make money selling honey. A tribesman goes out into the countryside and claps his hands, whistles in a certain way, or blows across a snail shell. If a Honey Guide is not far off, it will generally appear very quickly and sing a special chattering call which it never otherwise uses. When sure that the man's attention has been caught, it flies off with a low swooping flight which is easy to follow. As it flies, its tail feathers are spread wide, so that the white outer feathers are clearly displayed. The man follows, whistling and shouting to let the bird know he is coming.
As the two travel together, the bird gradually lands on lower and lower branches until its song changes to a low whistle that it repeats two or three times, then becomes quiet, and flies over to a perch where it sits quietly. As the man approaches, he can see that the bird is sitting very close to the entrance of a bees' nest. The man carefully draws closer and sets a small fire just upwind from the nest. The smoke from the fire stupefies the bees and he opens the nest and extracts the combs. He hangs up part of the honeycomb for the bird. The bird flies over and eats the white bee grubs, and also some of the honeycomb wax. The Honey Guide is one of the only animals which can digest beeswax.
Who taught the Honey Guide to lead people to bee’s nests? Who gave it that low, swooping flight and the white signal feathers in the tail? Who told the bird to be quiet when it comes close to the nest so the bees will not sting it to death? And who gave the bird the ability to digest beeswax? The answer is the Creator. In Genesis 1:21 we read, “So God created...every winged bird according to its kind.” Not only did God create all living creatures but He also sustains all of His Creatures. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26).
In the book Steps to Christ we read:
God cares for everything and sustains everything that He has created. He who upholds the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, at the same time cares for the wants of the little brown sparrow that sings its humble song without fear. When men go forth to their daily toil, as when they engage in prayer; when they lie down at night, and when they rise in the morning; when the rich man feasts in his palace, or when the poor man gathers his children about the scanty board, each is tenderly watched by the heavenly Father. No tears are shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that He does not mark. If we would but fully believe this, all undue anxieties would be dismissed. Our lives would not be so filled with disappointment as now; for everything, whether great or small, would be left in the hands of God, who is not perplexed by the multiplicity of cares, or overwhelmed by their weight. We should then enjoy a rest of soul to which many have long been strangers. (Steps to Christ, page 86)
May your heart be encouraged by the recognition of the love of God.