Originally written several years ago – some content may be dated but the message is timeless.
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Tonight, I was out watering the front flower bed and all of a sudden, I saw a little hop, hop, hop… No, it wasn’t a bunny but one of the baby House Sparrows from the main nest that always holds all the babies during the summer. I saw momma and daddy Sparrow trying to coax the babies out today… feeding and flying away. The babies would stick their little heads out and cry for food and then go back into the dark hole. I watched this on and off all day long. So tonight, I wasn’t surprised to see one on the ground. But he certainly didn’t look big enough to be out of the nest. So, like a good foster momma, I went to get a towel to pick the baby up in. He didn’t mind that at all, in fact the warm, soft cloth probably felt safe and comfy. I just lifted him up to the hole of the nest and he hopped right in. I stood there for a little bit and all of a sudden, I saw them! ANTS!!! Crawling around on the bird house! OH NO!!! They were going in and out of the cracks and holes. OH NO!! Baby bird was in there with them! This is NOT GOOD! I stood there and prayed… “Lord, please keep that baby safe and forgive me for putting it back in its nest where the ants were. Please protect him. They knew they needed to be out of there, and please…” and then out popped the baby bird in mid-sentence! “Oh, Thank You Lord!” I was so relieved! I watched for a little while and daddy Sparrow swooped down and was chirping like crazy! Momma was off in the distance going crazy too! Oh My… what have I done…??? I watched for a little bit longer and baby hopped down close to the street and I shushed him back towards the tree. I turned my camera on about this time and began videoing. He made his way around the tree and back down the other side of my little wall that I have recently put in around the area that is going to be all ornamental flower bed one day – if I can ever finish it. All of a sudden, I realized what was going on. Daddy Sparrow was trying to get baby Sparrow to cross the street to safety. There is a row of shrubbery across the street in my neighbor’s yard and apparently that is the “safe zone”. Momma was over there, and daddy was frantically trying to get baby over there! Oh My… You have to see this video! I am so happy to be a witness to this event tonight! God puts it in these little creatures to do what they are supposed to do! 1) get away from the dang ants, and 2) get to a safer place! I am only assuming that this was the last of the babies to leave the nest. I plan on taking that birdhouse down tomorrow and giving it a thorough cleaning. I had to do that last year after the season. I found a bunch of ants in it then too! So… all’s well that ends well. God is so good! When this happened you know what I heard in my heart!? Yep, God said “Here is another topic for you, Leah.” Oh My, I love it when God speaks to my heart like that!
Isn’t that just like humans? We are in this safe little place when we are new Christians and then we grow a little and venture out into the big, wide world and think we are right on track. We are going where we believe we should be. Then someone or something comes along and distracts us. We go along with the “whatever it is” and find ourselves right back in “hot water” (the nest with ants) … when we left that place a long time ago for safety! We may ask ourselves… “How did I wind up here again?” Experience talking here… Then we get a little courage and hop right out of that not-so-good place. Only to find another journey to where we had been before. The Father is there encouraging us to come “This Way” and He is doing all He can to get us to that “safe place” again. We struggle through all the hills and valleys, mishaps, and misfortunes until we run smack into a wall. The Father is on the other side of that “wall” encouraging us the whole time. “Come On, you can do it!” “Just a little further, you got this!” “Come on! This way! Do it!” We take another giant leap to faith and wind up at the edge of almost there. And there is the Father halfway to where we need to be. He is encouraging us and comes close quickly to tell us once again… “This way, my beloved, this way.” We are so tired and weak from the journey. We finally start heading that direction. Baby steps at first, then about halfway there we get our courage up even more. We begin to get serious about getting to the “safe place”. We hear the Father’s cries and they begin to sink deep into our heart. His words of encouragement and strong but gentle nudgings help up to reach way down and find that extra strength to make it. We keep our head up and our heart focused on Him because we know … WE KNOW… He will be there with us the entire way. He promised to never leave us, didn’t He? He promised to help us, didn’t He? Then we begin to hear the cheers and shouts from other souls that have already made this trek across all of the obstacles. They are waiting to greet us as well. By the time we finally make it to the “safe place” we are so glad to be with others that are like minded that we collapse with exhaustion.
The Father takes us in His arms and reassures us that we are going to be OK. He is there and will always be there even if we have to go through another journey like the one we just finished. He showers us with His Love, Mercy and Grace and holds us close. We are safe and know now that the journey was so worth every struggle! We rest for now and yes, we are safe at this stage but also know that we will make another trek to another “safe place” one day. That will be the final journey and then we can rest forever.
I say rest forever, but you know, I truly believe we will not be “resting” like we know it now. We were originally made to worship God the Father. I believe we will be worshiping more than anything, and that’s alright by me!
I do hope and pray that you know the Father and His Son Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There is no other way to get to Heaven or to be with God except to accept His Son Jesus and His free gift of grace and mercy and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior! Only ONE way! Jesus.
Click here to read about the Free Gift of Salvation in Jesus Christ. The website “Got Questions” is a great source of information to read more about what it means that Salvation is a Free Gift from God? Or read about any number of topics. Check it out – Got Questions?
That is a lot of good reading. But if you just want to talk to God, He is waiting for you to call out to Him now. He loves you so much! After all, He calls you His beloved!
Song – Mercy Came Running – Phillips, Craig & Dean
Leah,
Le**@My*******.com
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