Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Dwelling in Safety

“Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young.” Psalm 84:3a
How do you like the photo of my little friends on the left? Their mama and daddy built this nest in the spring anticipating their arrival. The nest was intricately constructed with beautiful flowers, moss, grass, and twigs. It’s in a precarious place atop my porch light, but apparently, the birds feel safe because they return every spring to make a new home. Only when the front door opens do they flee, shrieking in terror that “something” almost got them. 
The birds start singing every morning around 3:00 a.m. when they imagine the first hint of daylight. I say imagine because it’s still pretty dark to me. 
“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3
One of the first things I realize upon awakening is the blessing of another day. I envy the bird’s ability to sing this to the world each morning. Often before I’m even fully awake, I began to talk to God about the day ahead. 
Sometimes humans dwell in an apparent safe place. We’ve created our perfect nest lined with beautiful things, content until something threatens our earthly trappings. While we shriek about superficial terror, we often hit the snooze button when it comes to spiritual threats.
Which would matter more?
  • If my electricity were off for 24 hours or my access to God denied for 24 hours?
  • If I lost my car keys or lost my Bible?
  • If I were denied a promotion or a family member refused salvation?
  • If the baseball game I attended went to extra innings or Sunday morning church service ran late?
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to keep my priorities straight, my focus on You, my life patterned after your Son, and my faith strengthened through your Word. 
If you have a prayer request, leave it in the comment section below or email me confidential requests. My contact info is under the heading marked “Talk to Me.”
Karen Redding, whom we’ve been praying for, is at home with hospice care. She is battling leukemia. Please pray for healing, comfort, and strength for Karen and husband Mike, who has also lost his job. 
Pray for baby Ava who has been born with a serious colon problem. 
Previous requests include several for employment as well as Courtney, TC’s father-in-law, and Piper’s family battling serious health issues. Remember those who requested prayer for difficult family situations and mental illness including depression. Please pray for one another as we share the Gospel with the unsaved. 
Our song this week is “I AM” by Mark Schultz. Join me in reflecting upon this simple yet powerful statement by the magnificent God we serve.  

 God bless,
Laura

8 comments:

  1. laura we too have a bird nest built on our back patio and tony and i have so enjoyed watching the mommie and daddy birds build this.
    once again it seems you live in my head because i have been really trying to deal with keeping my priorities straight - which means keeping God the focus. the prayer you have is so fitting for me right now. thank you so much for this weekly blog.

    prayer request:
    continual prayer for karen healing and mike a job for mike.

    baby ava healing.

    tony job need and for stress relief.

    as always thanks and God bless to all who pray!

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    1. You're welcome, Betty. Thank you for being so faithful to pray for others and leave your requests. Please keep me posted on Karen's and Ava's progress. I'm continuing to pray for Tony's job and the stress that surrounds it for both of you. God bless you.

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  2. Laura, This is such a good analogy. I loved all of it, but my favorite, convicting paragraph is: "Sometimes humans dwell in an apparent safe place. We’ve created our perfect nest lined with beautiful things, content until something threatens our earthly trappings. While we shriek about superficial terror, we often hit the snooze button when it comes to spiritual threats."
    God really does speak to us through nature. Thanks for sharing this on B&BB. I'm praying you'll have a blessed week and I pray for Karen, Ava, Courtney, TC’s father-in-law, and Piper as they struggle with health and employment issues and ask God to speak peace into each situation and each heart.

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    1. Thanks, Gail. I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I'm glad God uses me to touch others through my writing. God bless you in your travels and missions.

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  3. God cares for those birds just as much as if they built there nest in a tree. Just seeing the picture was an encouragement to me. Your questions were convicting and ones I will be asking myself this week. I want my focus to be on God.

    Blessings,
    Pamela

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Pamela. I'm glad you were encouraged by the post. God bless you.

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  4. I envy the fact that these birds can sing even when they think the sunlight is coming. This is the hardest part of my day. I try to thank the Lord for the new day but often time I struggle to even open up my eyes let alone get out of bed, get ready for work and find time to pray. Thanks for the post!

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    1. Birds are beautiful creatures. Even though I don't like being awakened by them so early, I love the encouragement they bring to me. I'll add you to my prayer list. God bless you.

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