Heron on the Rooftop

I saw it yesterday looming in the early morning light. A threat to my sense of peace and content. Dark wings, spreading nearly as wide as I am tall and a beak honed for precision strikes, the heron perched on my neighbor's rooftop gazing hungrily into my pond at the well-fed koi enjoying the cool morning waters. As I moved on to the deck, the heron took notice and flew off to the South, taking my sense of security with it.

Dramatic? Maybe. But not much of an exaggeration.

When I built this pond back in the summer of '24, I took great pains in the planning process to research and design it to be heron and raccoon-proof. I felt good about what I had built and confident in the final product. But until yesterday, I had not seen either predator in our neighborhood. The planning, as far as I knew, had never been put to the test. Now I find myself looking at the pond again with fresh eyes, trying to see if there are any weak points that I may have missed.

Is there even the tiniest ledge where the heron could get its feet in the water? A point of entry for a hungry raccoon to wade toward unsuspecting fish?

It's funny the internal shift that takes place when a theoretical concern becomes actual reality.

We are confident in our health until the doctor gives an unhappy test result. We are settled in our homes until we notice the drywall in the ceiling is telling us that the roof is leaking. We drive without concern until the check engine light warns us that something isn't as it should be.

I found a weak point. One small space where the rocks I had placed had slid into the pond, creating half a square foot of wading room in the pond. So I found a shallow pot, some bog-friendly flowers, and dealt with it. A sparrow might be able to land in that space now, but certainly not a heron.

The problem in our lives is usually not having vulnerabilities. That's a part of the package. The problem comes when we choose to ignore them, try to hide them, or on the other side allow them to become roots of fear and anxiety that do more harm than the vulnerable point ever could have.

Paul has some words for us that I find particularly helpful when I face one of these moments.

2 Corinthians 12:9 CSB

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

Those words are a powerful antidote to the natural, but unhelpful, reflexes we can have when weaknesses and vulnerabilities show up.

"My grace is sufficient for you..."

I am reminded that God's grace is anticipatory. By that I mean it is out in front of whatever may come our way. God knows our neeeds and struggles before they emerge and has been at work since the foundations of the world to provide grace for our need. In the same way the planning I did ahead of time gave me understanding of what to look for and how to resolve that weak point in the pond, God was not suprised by the moment you find yourself in today.

"For my power is perfected in weakness."

God's grace is sufficient, because his power is strong. He is enough. And his power is able to completely step in, precisely at those points where our power fails. As long as we ignore or deny the issues, God's power is not free to do it's work to completeness in our lives. I had what was needed to fix the pond, but had I pretended everything was fine, the gap would still remain, my "power" to step in could not have become complete until I acknowledged the weakness.

"Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me."

Had I not dealt with that gap, I would still be fretting about the safety of my fish. I have a real investment of time, money, and care in those little guys. I know that nothing I do can perfectly protect, and they won't last forever, but a heron can empty a pond in pretty short order and then I'd be starting all over.

In the same way, as long as I ignore, hide, or become paralyzed with anxiety over the weakenesses in my life, I miss out on the power of God to do what only he can do. When I confess weakness, struggle, or sin, God's power is faithful and sufficient to provide the grace I need.

This grace doesn't always change the situation. Paul was praying for relief, and God said no. Sometimes we pray for change, for restoration, for healing, and God allows us to stay in the weak place in order to do something bigger and even more graceful inside of us. What I am reminded of in this verse, and as I consider my new knowledge that the herons have found our home, is that the situation doesn't have to change for God's grace to be experienced.