I was recently, well, “challenged” by someone (indirectly) to write an exhortation about an ostrich. Now, who they are isn’t important (*cough* Marilee *cough*)—what is important is that the moment it was mentioned, I knew what I wanted to say! Behold, the difference between a person and an ostrich:
For starters, the ostrich is a huge bird. How huge? The hugest. 340lbs. Friends, that’s REALLY huge. Naturally, it lays the world’s largest eggs. It is also super-duper fast. How fast? The fastest two-legged animal in the world, capable of 70kph sprints and 16ft strides. And forget that nonsense about the ostrich burying its head in the sand. Why should they? If running away from a threat doesn’t work, they can kick it to death. Yes, that’s what I said. Ostriches are capable of death-kicking LIONS. Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you! Just check this site out to verify and see lots more cool facts: https://onekindplanet.org/animal/ostrich/
So, what’s the obvious difference between an ostrich and a person? Is it that they have two toes and we have five? Maybe the fact that they have over 2lbs. of rocks in their stomachs at all times to grind up their food because they have no teeth? Nope.
The obvious difference is that an ostrich never focuses on the fact that it can’t fly and other birds can.
If we people turned into ostriches, I dare say being the biggest and the fastest wouldn’t hold our attention for long. I reckon we’d soon start pondering the one thing we couldn’t do. It’s how we work. Our default setting is to focus on the negative.
Since we are in the midst of a series called “People of Truth” and since it’s November, I offer this friendly challenge: Discipline yourself to focus on the positive aspects of your life and yourself. Ask God to show you what makes you awesome, and then stop comparing yourself and your attributes to others. Do what you can do and be who you are. Energetically. Happily. Thankfully. Just like an ostrich.