While out for a walk a few weeks back, a Blue jay caught my attention. Somehow the sounds of a solitary bird managed to rise above the cacophony of a busy intersection. His emphatic call caused me to seek him out. I glanced up and to my right just in time to see him straighten his legs, stick out his chest, and declare his message once again.

By nature, I am an investigator. Do Blue jays stand up when they call? Not that I tried hard, but I found no reference to such behavior. He stood each time he called as if he imagined himself with a tiny blue jay trumpet. Afterward, he settled back into a resting, perched position. What in the world was that bird doing?

That encounter keeps reentering my thoughts. Something about a bird passionately pursuing its purpose, undeterred by the noise around him, speaks to me. 

Too often, I find myself 10 ways wrecked by the tiniest bit of noise. One comment, ill-intended or not, can completely derail my plans. I let the noise and distractions cause me to second-guess every little thing. Before I know it, I am back at square one wondering if I had it all wrong in the first place.

The blue jay was not bothered in the least by the ambulance that screamed by, the deep base rattling nearby car speakers, or the impatient blast of a car horn. He faithfully stood and called. Why? 

Nature readily provides such clear examples of God’s design for His creation. That Blue jay wasn’t up there wringing his wings because the ambulance drowns out his calls. The rattling car speakers don’t cause him to second-guess his song. And, he doesn’t let the car horns distract him from what he knows to do. He simply lives according to his design.

What would that be like for you and me? In spite of the noise, I heard his call. The same can be true of us when we refuse to be distracted from living the life God created us for.

But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;
ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;
let the fish of the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this? 

Job 12:7-9 (CSB)