Faith Like a Seagull

By Mack Donahue

"Faith like a seagull" is probably a sentence you've never heard before. Faith of a mustard seed, sure. But faith of a seagull? What on earth could that mean?

Well, at risk of sounding a little crazy, let me share a testimony from my missions trip in 2019. During my trip, my group spent 4 weeks camping on the beach. It was a time of really getting to know each other, and really being intimate and close with God. There was one day where I was overwhelmed with how to hear God's will, and how to know it's actually Him speaking. And God used the unlikeliest of ways to speak to me. 

I was walking along the beach, all alone, sharing my thoughts with the Lord. How I was stressed, how I wanted His will above all else but didn't have the discernment and wisdom I needed to know I was doing the right thing. This whole time there was a flock of seagulls following me on the beach. Occasionally I'd pick up a small stone and throw it across the beach. All the seagulls would recklessly chase the rock until they realized it wasn't edible, then they'd come back to me. I'd keep walking and praying until they got annoying again and then I'd throw another rock. This process went on for a while before I became truly irritated and just yelled out to God asking Him to rid me of the distraction. "Lord I'm trying to focus on you but I'm being distracted by these seagulls, send them away Lord." I remember saying. But I didn't receive the response I anticipated. I felt the Lord speak to me in a way He seldom had before. "Maybe I want to use them." He said. "I want you to be like these seagulls. You throw a rock, and they drop everything and pursue this rock, thinking it's food. If and when they realize their judgement was misguided, they return to where they last knew they were correct, and try again." 

So I had this realization about pursuing God's will. It's a matter of trial and error. God doesn't expect us to have it all figured out. He expects us to be yielded to His will. He won't let us accidentally walk off a cliff in pursuit of His heart. Or maybe He will, but He'll slow our fall and what we find at the bottom will be better than we could imagine. He desires for us to walk towards what we believe to be His plan, and He'll correct our path from there. It's easier to redirect an object already in motion than it is to get an object in motion to begin with. Don't be frozen in fear of misinterpreting. Do your best, and move towards God, and He'll correct you as needed. 

If you ask for wisdom with a surrendered heart, you will receive it. But probably not how you expect. When I asked for wisdom, I expected guidance on the specific situation I was dealing with at that moment. I didn't anticipate that the 'thorn in my flesh' so to speak, would become the lesson and source of wisdom I sought.