As I listened to the strange bump-thump in the gutter above my head, I began to realize this was not normal. I turned my attention to the roof of the house, only to see a bird with a straw-filled beak, disappear under the gutter cover. It dawned on me. A mother bird and her mate were building a beautiful nest for their precious little ones that would soon be here.
I watched for some time. In and out they went - wrestling with branches and pine straw, desperate to prepare...to fill the area with all the things needful of small, helpless hatchlings.
I admired their tenacity - their brilliance and handiwork. Yet, part of me was saddened. You see, I can see what WILL happen. I can see the water from the storms pouring into the gutter and filling it - ripping their hard work apart, killing the little ones they were trying to protect.
They will not have planned for the water.
Instead, their planning was focused mainly on trying to find the perfect place to build their family. But for all their hard work - their endless flittings - futility would be their harvest - futility and destruction.
Those thoughts really made me question whether or not we are doing anything different. We plan our lives one fury-filled fit after another, trying to "provide" for our families - trying to stay afloat. We, as a society, prize working long hours to obtain great pay, so that we can "build" our families - "care" for our young. We plan for them to have the best of everything and never lack for anything.
There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, yet what if the fitful "building" we are involved in, is actually the thing that ultimately destroys, instead of builds our families? What if working that extra job for some "rainy day" cash will cost us more than we think? What if more time at the office and less time with our kids, leads to some difficulties for which our money could never prepare us? Are we building our families or choosing to deliberately destroy them? Do our priorities in our days dictate our desires for our family, or do our desires for our family dictate our priorities?
What if we spend all this time "building," only to find that the end of our "building" is destruction.
Matthew 7:24-27 says, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Build your house on the Rock - on Christ - on His desires for your family - His desires for you. Search His heart in all your decisions, including the ones concerning your family. Plan for the water, my friend, by making sure you and your plans for your family are securely seated on the Rock.
Thank You, Father, for promising me that if I seek You, I will find You if I search for You with all my heart. I want to know You, Lord. I want to know Your plans for myself and for my family, so that I can walk in the Truth that You are directing my steps and going before me on this journey. Thank You, Lord. I love You.
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