There is a pair of barn swallows that made the front porch of the house where I'm staying their home. I hear that they have been nesting there since 2008 and return every summer. The pair had 3 chicks which had grown and where about ready to fly. At about noon yesterday, I noticed that the parents were making a lot more noise than usual, almost as if they were trying to get my attention. They were flying around frantically until I noticed that the remaining 2 chicks where on the ground and not in the nest. Where the third one was I had no idea and hope that it was alive somewhere and had learned and mastered flight.
It was about a 100 degrees, and these 2 were on the ground, far from safety in the heat of the day, with their parents unable to do anything but get a human being's attention. The thing that worried me the most when I saw these chicks on the ground was the stray cats which have made the home next door their home. There is an elderly man who takes care of them so naturally they made it their home, at least at meal time. It broke my heart even thinking about leaving them on the ground. I knew they would be eaten at some point or die from overheating and dehydration. I looked at the nest and thought about putting them back in there but it would be a gamble because I know that some species reject their young if handled by a human.
It was worth a try because at least they would be back in the safety of the nest and maybe the parents might take them back. So I handled them with part of a newspaper page, taking care not to touch them directly with my hands as the parents watching and flying around. They probably mistook me for the enemy at first but seemed to realize what I was trying to do.
I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when they were both back in the nest and with the parents flying around as if they were talking to their chicks, happy that at least they were not in the heat or within the cats' reach.
I stood there for a few minutes and it was barely 5 before the bigger chick attempted to fly and sort of did while falling to the ground. The relief immediately turned to frustration as I realized that all the effort to get that chick back in the nest was undone in less than 5 minutes.
The second, though hesitant was quick to follow, as the parents seemed to encourage it to fly, or hopefully to stay put in the nest. I made yet another attempt to save these chicks and again within 10 minutes, both were on the ground again. It made me sad to realize that at this rate, these chicks were not going to make it.. They were too weak to fly, but their instinct was telling them to try, so they would not stay put in the nest. I knew that there was no way I was going to watch them for a long period of time. So I knew that if the heat didn't get them, the cats sooner or later would.
This sad situation got me thinking about life in general. As humans, each and every one of us goes through situations where we are like these barn swallows, too weak to fly yet unable to stay in the safety of the nest. Imagine the pain and helplessness the parents felt looking at their young on the ground knowing that the chances of survival for them were very slim.
God is like our parent and though He is all powerful and can do anything, He can not force us to do His will. If we leave the safety of His nest but are too weak or don't have enough faith to stay airborne, we will fall prey to the traps of the devil. I can imagine the pain and frustration we put Him through with our lives, our choices, the direction we choose for our lives, when he knows that the end thereof is death, as is written:
[25] There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 16:25.
We can't see it but He sees that the outcome is death. Though He is capable of forcing us to choose Him, he gave us the power to choose, and unfortunately our choices often separate us from Him, and being out of the nest or out of His will makes us vulnerable to the traps and devices of the devil.
He would have us to stay in the nest and to nourish us, to strengthen us so that we can be able to fly the flight of faith and not fall to the ground. His desire is for us to fly and even soar to great heights spiritually on our flights of faith. The nest is when we come to know God, the air is staying in His will, and the nourishment to strengthen us for our journeys of faith is His Word, as is written:
[14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
[15] And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
[17] So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:14, 15, 17.
Faith is what is necessary for us to please God, and His pleasure is in us staying airborne on our journeys, as is written:
[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6.
Without faith it is impossible to please God hence without faith, it is impossible to stay airborne on this flight of faith. Faith is what keeps us airborne on our pilgrimage and without it, we will end up on the ground, too weak to fly and will become easy prey for the devil as is written:
[8] Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8.
If you are unable to fly and weaken on your journey, you will become prey for the devil just as those swallows became prey for the stray cats. Do not stay on the ground brothers and sisters, and if you call on Christ, He will be your strength to get you airborne and out of reach of the devil's devices, as is written:
[9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
So how does the devil trap and devour us when we fail to go airborne, when we lose faith or have little or none of it?
[15] Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
[16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:15, 16.
Faith is how we love God and please Him and is how we do these 2 things:
[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40.
When we love the world or the things of the world, we love not our Father and definitely don't love our neighbour as is written:
[20] If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
[21] And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John 4:20-21.
So faith is how we please Him by loving Him and our neighbour as ourselves. When we love the world or the things of the world more than God, then we lack faith, and these things literally become a trap to us.
While we become preoccupied with these things, the devil can come along and take our lives, as he is like a lion seeking whom he may devour. When we are preoccupied with these things, we are too weak to fly the flight of faith, and we become weak when we don't get enough nourishment through reading His Word. When we weaken and don't stay airborne, we become preocuupied with the things of the world, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, and it is then when we are most vulnerable to the devil's devices. it is then when we are easy prey for Him and he can literally kill us as is written:
[10] The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: John 10;10.
[44]He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44.
He lies to us that is safe on the ground when in fact he is sneaking upon us while preoccupied with the world, and then we become easy prey for him and he takes our lives without even realizing it, without warning.
No matter how innocent or harmless it might seem, anything that draws us away from our Father in heaven and preoccupies us to the point of us losing sight of salvation, anything that takes us away from time spent in prayer and in his Word which is for our strength, that we can fly the flight of faith, is a device the devil can use to trap and destroy us.
[12] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12.
Let us fly the good flight of faith and lay hold on eternal life brothers and sisters, When you start noticing that you are getting weak, feed on the Word for strength, and the Word is where the faith, the strength for your flight of faith comes from.
