I have a pair of binoculars propped up on the window next to my computer workstation right now. I’ve been having a great deal of fun watching a mother robin from nest building to egg incubation to feeding the three young ones who hatched. Boy do they grow fast! I could barely see their tiny open beaks at first and now I wonder how they can still fit the nest. It looks mighty cramped.

What I’m really eager to watch next is how the mother kicks them out on their own. Somehow she knows when the timing is right and they can fly. They are still sitting there, mouth open without a clue.

I think we sometimes try to go through life like those baby birds. We want God to keep swooping in and feeding us. Along comes a trial or some hard place and we feel squeezed but we still don’t understand that God is getting us ready to fly. We aren’t meant to sit in a warm safe nest forever; it’s too cramped.

Lately, I’m trying to see my current tribulations as opportunities. I must be growing too big for the old nest and it’s time to take wing. I won’t be pushed out until God knows the timing is right and I’m big enough to sustain flight.

Are you in the midst of a trial these days? Rejoice! You are getting ready to fly!