The tests of life reveal how well you take instruction, what you've learned, and what you'll do in any given set of circumstances. What you've been taught is only theory, until it's been tested on real fire. Chuck Swindoll tells the story of a bird named Chippy:
'Chippy the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage singing, the next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. His problem began when his owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum. She stuck the nozzle in to suck up the seeds and feathers at the bottom of the cage. Then the phone rang. Instinctively she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said 'hello' and then ‘sswwwwPPPPP!’ Chippy got sucked in.
The owner gasped, dropped the phone and snapped off the vacuum. She unzipped the bag and there was Chippy alive, but stunned; covered with heavy black dust. She grabbed Chippy and rushed to the bathtub, turned on the faucet full blast and held Chippy under a torrent of ice-cold water, power-washing him clean. Then she did what any compassionate pet owner would do: she snatched up the hairdryer and blasted the wet, shivering little bird with hot air.' Swindoll closes his story with these words: 'Chippy doesn't sing much anymore.' Life will test you, but don't let the struggles steal your song of life.
John 16: 33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
- Author unknown
'Chippy the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage singing, the next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. His problem began when his owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum. She stuck the nozzle in to suck up the seeds and feathers at the bottom of the cage. Then the phone rang. Instinctively she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said 'hello' and then ‘sswwwwPPPPP!’ Chippy got sucked in.
The owner gasped, dropped the phone and snapped off the vacuum. She unzipped the bag and there was Chippy alive, but stunned; covered with heavy black dust. She grabbed Chippy and rushed to the bathtub, turned on the faucet full blast and held Chippy under a torrent of ice-cold water, power-washing him clean. Then she did what any compassionate pet owner would do: she snatched up the hairdryer and blasted the wet, shivering little bird with hot air.' Swindoll closes his story with these words: 'Chippy doesn't sing much anymore.' Life will test you, but don't let the struggles steal your song of life.
John 16: 33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
- Author unknown
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