The Way God Made It

Bible Reading: Philippians 4:4-7; 1 John 5:14-15

"A-vee-air-ee," read Logan, looking at the sign above the door of one of the buildings at the zoo. He was visiting the zoo with his Uncle Mike. "What does that mean?" asked Logan.

"An aviary is a place where birds are kept. Let's see what kinds they have here." They opened the door and heard a lot of chirping and squawking, and as they walked through the building, they saw many different kinds of birds. "Look over there." Uncle Mike pointed toward a flamingo standing on one leg. "That one is asleep."

"What a funny way to sleep!" said Logan. "How can that one skinny leg hold up such a big bird?"

"Well, all I can tell you is that's the way God made it," said Uncle Mike. "It's amazing, isn't it?" Logan grinned and nodded.

After leaving the aviary, Uncle Mike bought them each a snack. As they sat on a bench and munched their chips, Logan was very quiet. "Thinking about your parents again?" asked Uncle Mike.

"Yeah," said Logan. "I just know they're going to get a divorce."

"Now, you don't know that for sure, Logan. The reason you're here with me this weekend is so they could go to that marriage seminar. I think they're going to try to work things out."

"Well, maybe," said Logan. "I know that's what they talked about, but I wish I could do something to help them."

"You can pray," said Uncle Mike.

"I already do that," said Logan. "I pray all the time! But that's just a little thing."

"That's what you said about the flamingo's leg," Uncle Mike reminded him. "But that little leg held the whole bird up, didn't it? And though our prayers may seem small, God uses them to do great things. Even when things don't turn out the way we want, we can have peace knowing that He hears us when we pray and promises to work through our prayers to do good things and show people His love." Uncle Mike smiled. "That's the way God made it."

–Sara L. Nelson