The Islamic Call to Prayer happens everyday, 5x a day. The first few times I heard it, it seemed so eerie to me. I always stopped what I was doing and immediately felt really heavy. There was one night that I was watching the sunset and reading the Bible when it began playing. I began to take a video so when I told people about it they could listen for themselves. This one prayer seemed especially long. I distinctly remember once it was over, the only thing I could hear were birds chirping. And for a minute, it made me smile because the animals our God, the one true God, created were singing an even more beautiful “call to prayer,” glorifying the Lord in the midst of wrongful worship. I then watched the video only to realize that the birds had been singing the whole time.
I had two really cool realizations happen through this. One, God created EVERYTHING for his glory, and he will get glory from everything. Whether it has wings or is incapable of breathing, God will receive the glory because he created it for that very purpose. “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord…” Psalm 96:11-13. Another connection I made that I realized I did in my life is that I tend to only think that God is at work when I see something good. I often fail to realize that he was there and was directing my path the whole time. Just like I didn’t hear the birds singing before I looked back, sometimes I question if God was there in the moment, and then realize that he had been there the whole time.
Whether it’s birds chirping, a beautiful sunset, intense lightning, instruments played or voices singing, our God will be praised and will get the glory that only He deserves. And that is such a sweet reminder in such a lost country.
