The Injured Goose

We have a lake across the street from us and that means lots of messy geese trump through our yard daily. They make a mess on our driveway and eat up our beautiful green grass. Needless to say we consider them more of a nuisance than anything. But as an animal lover I never want any harm to come to them.
We often see people come speeding down our street and you can tell they are less than patient as the geese waddle across the street in front of them at their own pace. I have even seen cars TRY to hit them. Now that makes me mad! In the spring they have their little ones following right behind. The parents are very protective, as our little dog found out one day. They don't have those long necks for nothing. She doesn't get quite to close now.
Recently we have noticed that we have an injured goose hanging around our yard. I have a bird feeder right outside our kitchen window so that I can observe the different birds comings and goings. The geese often come over to scavenge for seed. The other day I noticed that a goose was hobbling around with what appeared to be an injured leg. I watched him on and off all day and he was always by himself. I called my husband to the window and we decided that he needed some food, so we took some seed out to him and put fresh water in the birdbath. He was hesitant as we came into his space but when he discovered we had food and were not trying to harm him he settled down and ate up. Smart bird, huh?
I got to thinking about what spiritual significance there was to this story. You see his buddies had left him on his own. That is what animals do. When another one is injured they leave them so that they don't get slowed down. I thought how sad! All the other geese were walking around together and there he was injured, left to himself unable to even fly. He kept sitting down, like it was just too hard to keep walking.
Oftentimes that is what we do. A fellow Christian falls down and we leave him to fend for himself. They might need us to walk alongside them for a while with encouragement until they are back on the right path. Instead we go on off with others without a thought to the needs our injured brother or sister has. Is this true of you or do you help to carry your brothers burden? Sometimes it is easier to go about our business believing we won't ever be down ourselves. My heart usually goes out to the underdog or in this case, the undergoose! Think of someone who is down and needs a special touch of love by you. Would you be willing to reach out to that downtrodden person as the Lord leads you? Take a moment to make a call, send a card, or take a meal.
Often our inmates feel deserted. They are left without any support many times from their family or friends. What is the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind". We tend to forget them as we go about our busy schedules. A letter or a package or a book that would minister to them is often the very thing that will give them hope that someone cares about them. Consider ministering to someone today as God directs you.