Sometimes some of the best things are not the most obvious. A case in point is this Yellow-Headed Blackbird I encountered recently. He reminded me that not all the things you look for are right out in the open. Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, they seem “hidden.

Whether it’s photography or life, it pays to be sensitive to, alert to, open to those opportunities which come our way. One for me was this Blackbird. He was far from obvious in the sea of grass and if I’d been moving too fast he’d have been missed for certain!

It likely sounds like some cliché but the pace of life presses most of us to the point that we can seriously miss some of our best opportunities. Maybe it’s time to slow down and look a little closer, listen a little better, linger a little longer. Your husband or wife, parents or children, friends or neighbors will be richer and far less hidden to you!

D.L. Moody told a little illustration of such opportunity this way —
“A sculptor once showed a visitor his studio. It was full of statues of gods. One was very curious. The face was concealed by being covered with hair, and there were wings on each foot. ‘What is his name?’ said the visitor. ‘Opportunity,’ was the reply. ‘Why is his face hidden?’ ‘Because men seldom know him when he comes to them.’ ‘Why has he wings on his feet?’ ‘Because he is soon gone, and once gone can never be overtaken.’ It becomes us, then, to make the most of the opportunities God has given us.”

[D. L. Moody, Moody’s Stories: Being a Second Volume of Anecdotes, Incidents and Illustrations (New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburg: Fleming H. Revell, 1899), 79–80.]

This Yellow-Headed Blackbird reminded me afresh of the uniqueness of the people around me, people our Lord has brought into our paths, people often “hidden” unless we slow down, see their uniqueness, and thank the Lord for opening our eyes to what we might have thought was hidden!

The psalmist sees these hidden people this way in Psalm 139.11-18 —
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

Let me close by reminding all of us that our lives are not “hidden” from our Lord! He has more for us than we’ve ever imagined. If you’re not aware of this and would like to begin a new way of living, literally a new life, start by placing your faith in this great God who loves you. Scripture says, John 3.16,
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

And, for all of us, remember, sometimes some of the best things are not the most obvious. It might be that gracious gift of new life through faith in Jesus you’ve been driving past, and, it might be that person next to you about whom the Lord is opening your eyes to see like never before.