Thoughtful About . . . Cast Down

Over the weekend, a summer storm raged. The wind blew, the rain lashed down, lightning pierced the sky. Monday morning, I went for my usual morning jog, and I saw something that made me pause.

Two birds’ nests, blown out of the trees and deposited on different parts of the driveway.

It may not have grabbed my attention so much had it just been one–but two? That struck me. Especially because they both looked the same. A typical robin’s nest, woven from dried grass. Average size. Clearly empty, as the latest eggs have hatched and the babies have flown away.

Sometimes no doubt we feel like those birds’ nests, knocked about by the winds. Lashed by the rain. Pierced by the lightning. Sometimes when we think we’re safe and secure in our cozy life, we find ourselves cast down.

But do you know what struck me most about those nests? That three days later, after being driven over a dozen times, they still looked like nests. Maybe not perfect–a little flat–but they were unmistakable. The grass hadn’t pulled apart and scattered. Those little, temporary houses, abandoned as soon as the fledglings fly away, were cast down…but they were not destroyed. Because they’d been built well. For a purpose.

My friends, we are built by Someone far more skillful than a robin. And we were built to last more than a few weeks, one season. We were woven with love and purpose.

Yes, sometimes the storms come. Sometimes we fall. Sometimes we’re cast down.

But we are not destroyed. We are not forsaken. Whatever wounds people inflict, our God is bigger. He can heal us. He can pick us up. He can mold us and shape us, broken pieces and all, into something even stronger. Ordained for His purpose.