The Feathers in My Nest

I’ve thought often lately about the feathers that pad our nests. 

Early one morning while sitting on a bench waiting for a meeting at school one day, I looked up and noticed that birds had made their nests in the rafters of the porch right in the midst of the long spikes that are intended to discourage that very thing from happening. A bird’s God-given instinct to seek out a safe place, build a nest of the materials available, and raise baby birds had managed to overcome the seemingly impossible obstacle in its way.

As I sat pondering the stubborn ingenuity of God’s creation to do what it was intended to do regardless of the obstacles, it hit me that sometimes we humans do the same thing, but much to our detriment. In seeking out desirable situations, what appeals to us is often not what is best for us. The best place for those birds would’ve been in a sheltered place away from people and the deadly looking spikes placed as a deterrent to nesting there. Likewise, the best place for the Christian would be to stay in God’s will for his/her life.

When we stray from the path of serving and glorifying God and seeking His will over our own, we often find painful obstacles in our way. Sometimes we see these obstacles as interruptions because we have yet to even realize we’ve strayed. In that case, just maybe these are God’s road signs to us—warning us that we are straying off the path designed for us—a path padded with the fluffy feathers of obedience. Unfortunately, many times in life I’ve failed to heed the warning and found myself caught in the thorns of a life I’ve chosen despite the obvious, and sometimes those situations took a long time to "hatch," leaving me in the consequences of my actions much longer than I would have liked to nest there.

While it is painful to mess up, the really cool thing is that God’s grace is still available when our choices veer from following Him. Those birds that made their nest among the thorny spikes? They still managed to survive and raise little ones, as evidenced by the feathers liberally hanging from the rafters (and the abundant bird poop testifying that they had stayed there long enough to do so). In the same way, while we may experience the discomfort of decisions and the consequences of our actions, God generously gives grace to the believer who turns to Him in repentance. While the feathers padding the nest made and then repented of are not as comfortable as the ones that would’ve been in the nest had we chosen a different nesting location, at least there are still feathers there testifying of God's committed love for us.

I wonder whether or not the birds will return next year and obstinately build their nests among the painful-looking spikes. Or will they, just maybe, have figured out that it is not worth it? I would like to think that they’ve learned from the trials they’ve suffered . . . and I’d like to hope that I would always learn the lesson God wants me to learn from the messes I've created

, especially if I have had to scatter some feathers from my nest in the process.