“…I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
Unknowingly, I pulled back a curtain recently and discovered a robin’s nest with newly hatched baby robins at eye level view! I was so excited to discover a sight I don’t often see. My boys and I started to look up the life cycle and determine what stage they were at, just a few days old. Life carried on and before we knew it, one morning when pulling the curtain back again, those pink, helpless hatchlings had become much larger, darker colored, feather covered birds about to leave the nest. It was almost unbelievable the four little ones still fit in there together. That little round nest was getting outgrown and while it is the only home they had known, and only friends and comfort they had known for many days now, something incredible happened in front of our eyes. Yes we watched as the first baby robin climbed from the nest, hopped a few steps on the surface below it and took the leap of faith into the air, fluttering until it landed on the fresh grass below. We cheered as it landed and before the end of the day, each baby robin followed suit and by nightfall, the nest was empty.
Something about that empty nest stuck with me. I thought of how much labor went into building that nest. First a location hoped to be safe chosen. Then, stick after stick carried by mouth and stacked to form a little place of comfort to hold a precious gift, eggs, full of new life and potential. Careful watching, incubating, and waiting, followed by hatching! Work, still not done, now gathering of food for these little ones as they got strong, still very vulnerable to wind, predators, and other dangers. Until that day when somehow, the baby birds know it is time. Time to hop out of the nest, no longer wait for food, but gather their own. Time to venture out rather than just observe. Time to take the leap of faith and fly!
Those robins, they didn’t seem to doubt or question. They didn’t start weighing out the pros and cons of leaving the nest despite this next leap being one of the most dangerous times in their life when they are not strong fliers, they are ultimately alone, and this is a new experience. I wonder if they think, “Where did mom get those worms she always brought back?” J Yet, they take the leap and trust because it is what they were made to do! Maybe they embrace something we don’t…
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:26-27
But God….
He surrounded us with living examples in nature of animals witnessing to us how to trust Him. How to embrace that He is our creator and trust that He will provide through every storm, every change, and what we see as a life of survival as we peer from our window of “comfort” really is the reverse. Those birds have what we want…
“..the peace of God, which transcends all understanding…” Philippians 4:7
Now that is comfort.
A part of me felt sad that the birds were gone and the nest was empty. The “end” of a thing can feel sad sometimes, but in a matter of hours, I stumbled on another nest in a small tree filled with four beautiful robin’s eggs and a smile spread across my face as God reminded me that new hope is always around the corner. If we take that leap out of our comfort zone and trust Him, we may just be surprised by the blessings of abundance that wait. Blessings we would have never discovered had we stayed peering from the nest afraid to jump!
I am not sure what comfort God may be calling you from, but I know that each time He has called me I have felt like a baby bird jumping into the unknown. When I went from being a girl to a mother. When I moved from a home I knew to one I did not. When I left my career to do something unfamiliar. When I began homeschooling with little experience. The list goes on and on. And one thing I have learned is that the birds are right! God always provides just what I need when I need it and when I go revisit an old empty nest….I’m usually glad I jumped out when I did because God’s timing is always best.
Father, today and each day moving forward, please help us to leave our nests of comfort and jump into the unknown with full trust that you know what is coming and will provide everything we need when we need it. It is in Jesus name we pray. We love you.
Leaving the nest with you, Julie
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Comfort
Show me the next step I should take.