Lessons from Killdeer About the Quiet Life

The Bible is filled with examples of nature instructing us how to live for God’s glory.

Proverbs 6:6 says, “Consider the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”

Matthew 6:28-29 says, “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Job 38:31-33 says, “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?”

The snow has finally melted here in the Midwest. The summer birds have just begun to return, and their songs fill the air with sweet, refreshing music. I love to feel the wind ruffle my hair and breeze across my face. The best word that comes to my mind to describe spring is “delicious.” I would like more and more of spring, like a meal comprised of pizza, watermelon, and ice cream.

We live in a different habitat than we did before we moved, which means we see different types of birds. We get some of the more common birds: grackles, cowbirds, and robins. We also get some interesting predators. One day, I watched a Cooper’s Hawk chase down a Mourning Dove. The Mourning Dove survived by hiding underneath our patio table; we watched him cower in the shadows through our sliding door. I also see American Kestrels dotting the electric lines that travel in front of our house. Kestrels are hover-hunters, which means they “hover” above the ground and then dive down on their prey. I get the most excited, however, by the sweet little Killdeer that frequent our backyard.

Killdeer are the only type of plover that can live this far north. They winter along the Gulf coast and spend their summers here. Plovers are sandpiper-like birds with small round bodies, long legs, and short beaks. They look like chickens, except much smaller. Killdeer are unique among plovers because they don’t need to nest around water. We found a Killdeer nest in our yard a couple days ago, and our yard only consists of mud (from the building process) and grass–no water, except for some leftover puddles, which will dry up when it gets warmer.

Killdeer are hard to see, even when they’re moving. If they’re moving across the mud, they look like little white lines streaking across the brown. If they’re moving through the grass, they look like roving patches of dirt. Killdeer only become noticeable when they fly. Their call is loud and their wings cut the sky like a knife. They are fleet and they often travel together.

In times of peace, our lives as Christians reflect the Killdeer in motion on the ground. We don’t necessarily try to blend in, because that would lead to worldliness, but we do “aspire to live quietly,” to mind our affairs, and to work with our hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11). We build our nests in the locations that suit us the best–locations where we can glorify God in the vocations he designed for us. We try to live at peace with Christians and non-Christians alike, as Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” We don’t want to destroy our good witness to the grace of God by becoming cantankerous, prideful neighbors, perhaps like a raccoon (to stick with the nature examples).

In times of battle, our lives as Christians reflect the Killdeer in the sky. Sometimes the battles we have to fight come from our culture. They rally against our faith in Christ when they see that we haven’t become worldly like them. In situations like this, we can proclaim the goodness and truth of the gospel loudly with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, just like a small flock of Killdeer call out to one another for the entire countryside to hear. Sometimes the battles we have to fight come from within ourselves, which is more often the case. We tell ourselves lies and we fully believe them. We strive for personal perfection instead of trusting in Christ’s work in our hearts. In battles like these, we can loudly proclaim the gospel to ourselves, over and over again, and we can trust that soon these battles will become like a fleeting thought or passing dream, because the victory belongs to Jesus.

The Killdeer fly, but we race, knowing that someday we will win the prize.

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Photos: Nick Page and Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash