Birds In A Windmill

I recently read a story from a man who grew up on a farm with a working windmill. Occasionally, they would turn the windmill’s power off for an extended period of time and birds would build nests in the ironwork.

As a young boy, his father sent him out early one spring to check the windmill before returning its power. He found an elaborate nest made completely from wire that a bird had apparently scrounged for over a few summers. But she built her nest in a hazardous location and it had to be removed.

Birds in a windmill … that got me thinking.

The top of the windmill probably seemed like a prime location for that bird to build her nest. I’m sure she never considered the danger of the farmer returning power to the windmill and the possible resulting destruction.

While windmills played a vital role in developing American farmland as people moved westward, they aren’t ideal locations for nest building.

Despite the importance of that windmill to the farmer, and in defiance of her best intentions for herself and her babies, she built her nest in an unsafe location.

We do that, don’t we? Build our lives on sinking sand. What we think is a prime location for our best future.

But watch out … Danger ahead!

It can be easy to settle into a comfortable place. Easy to think we’ve found where we need to build. But unless we seek God and His direction in our lives, we can build in precarious locations that lead to danger, opening a door to chaos and confusion.

We may choose to build our nest in a certain place driven by a dream to do something big for God. But …

Good intentions—bad location.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life…

Psalm 138:7

Maybe it’s not God’s timing. Perhaps it’s not what God has purposed for us. It could be we are confusing our purpose with God’s purpose and place for us.

While our desire may be pure, we can put ourselves in a place of uncertainty. But God will gently and loving pick up our nest and place it where it should be … near His altar.

“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!”

Psalms 84:3

Over the years, I have thanked God many times for His protection over me in the midst of my own poor choices. Good intentions do not always guarantee good outcomes. But God, as our loving Heavenly Father, keeps His hand on us, protects us, and guides us back to our place of refuge … His altar. Where we lay our lives before Him. Where He pours His love and strength over us.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Psalm 46:1

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.“

Proverbs 18:10

Like a parent who must allow a child to spread their wings in order to learn to fly, God is there as we try our wings and start to build our nest. But if we build outside of His direction for our lives, He will always catch us, protect us, and move our nest to that place of safety.

Thank you Father, for your unending, unfailing love for us. And for leading us to build our nest at Your altar.

Images provided by:
GeorgeB2 on Pixabay
Aaron Sanford on Pixabay
Geoff Brooks on Unsplash
jrico144 on Pixabay