Lessons from a One-Legged Sandpiper

[I’ve been under the weather lately and got thinking about this little guy I wrote about a couple of years ago. I’m re-posting the devotional here, praying the Lord will encourage your heart with the reminder of this quiet determination, as He encouraged mine.]

Recently, while sitting by the gulf in Northwest Florida, I watched as three sandpipers scurried by. There was something special about one of them. He had one leg, and one little stump.

One leg or two, he could still soar. But to walk through the everyday ins and out of life, to live with an unchangeable circumstance day after day, and to survive one-legged in a  two-legged world, took courage and determination. For him, living life was an effort foreign to the others.

None of these things stopped this little sandpiper. He hopped alongside the others, determined to survive in this two-legged world. His was a one-legged life, but he made it work.

When he hopped by, I almost missed him.  I almost missed his silent courage and seemingly effortless determination. I almost missed this tiny reminder that obstacles can be overcome and hurdles produce courage.

Sometimes, life seems like a one-legged journey in a two-legged world: off-balanced, too much effort, a hindered hop from one hurdle to another.

But life doesn’t have to stop just because it’s hard.

This one-legged sandpiper kept going.

Is there anything stopping us?

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1,2)

Lord, Thank You for the hurdles of life; the hard things day by day that keep us turned Your direction. Help us not to cave into our circumstances, but to see them as opportunities to run the race with an endurance that only comes from keeping our eyes fixed on You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Devotional appeared at:

• Thoughts About God

• PresbyCan Daily Devotional