I was walking loops around my front drive for exercise, when I noticed each time I passed a certain spot, a little finch was flying from tree to tree … obviously very agitated and chirping at me! “That little bird must have a nest nearby,” I thought.
Loop after loop … in that same spot the little finch kept fluttering from branch to branch … agitated and chirping!
So I started to pay attention to the bushes … to see where the little bird was flying from.
After a couple more loops, I had homed in on the general vicinity.
On my next loop around, as the little bird flew from the bushes up to a nearby branch, I paused and surveyed the bushes to see if I could spot the nest.
Sure enough! … there it was!
Can you see it?
Probably not. The camouflage is pretty amazing, isn’t it?
If you were to zoom in on the center of the photo, that is where the nest is. Here is a close-up for you.
I continued on my way, walking loops for exercise, but it got me thinking about God’s protection and care. God has provided amazing camouflage as protection for the little mama bird and her 3 little eggs in the nest.
God cares for all that He has made.
But the little mama bird and her babies cannot stay in that nest forever. The protection of this place is only for this season. The babies will hatch, grow up, and fly away. And likewise, the mama bird will fly away also.
The protection which God has for the little birds during the next season, is in a completely different place … a warm place.
The ferns are unfurling their new fronds for this coming summer!
Last summer, a little finch built its nest down in the fern next to our front porch. Whenever I would come and go out my front door, the little bird would hop around the porch railing, chirping at me. As I would sit on my front porch during the warm days of summer, I would see the little bird land on the railing, survey me for a moment, then fly into the fern.
Then one day I began to notice barely perceptible high-pitched baby chirps coming from the fern.
The mama bird would fly out of the fern … return to land on the railing, survey me for a moment … then fly into the fern with food for her babies. And of course the resulting cacophony of baby birds chirping!
Then, one day I realized that I was no longer hearing any baby chirping. I no longer saw the little mama bird hopping around on the railing. They all had flown the nest. It was a tiny bit sad.
God had provided protection and care for the little finch and her babies in the fern.
But the protection of the fern was only for a season.
Here you can see a photo of the fern now. All the fern fronds from last season have drooped low to the ground, in preparation for the new fern fronds which are about to unfurl. And as you can see, the nest is now completely exposed.
What if the little bird and her babies from last summer had not wanted to leave the nest?
For starters, they would not have survived the freezing temperatures, ice, and snow of the winter.
Not only that, their nest is now totally exposed, as the fern fronds have drooped in preparation for new fronds. If the little birds had remained in this place, they would be vulnerable and exposed. They would no longer have any protection.
This place is not for them anymore. Not for this season.
The same thing is true when it comes to our lives. God has promised that He will provide protection and care for those who love Him.
God’s protection and care for us is very similar to God’s protection and care for the little birds. The protection varies according to the season. In one season of our life, God might have us in a certain place because that is the best place for our protection and care.
But life changes. Seasons change. The place we have been is no longer where God wants us to be. Just like the little birds must change places, and so find protection in a new season in a new place … so also, God does the same thing in our lives.
Change is scary. Change is hard. Sometimes we do not want to change. We don’t want to leave the “nest” where we have found protection thus far. We think that if we stay put, then everything will be fine.
But God cannot bless and protect us if we are in a place where He does not want us to be.
If we stay put in a place where we should not be … it is just like the little birds choosing to stay in their nest and not fly away like God wants them to.
God has protection for the little birds in the next season … but it is not in this place. It is in a different place.
So also, God will provide protection and care for those who love Him. But we cannot be foolish.
