Stirring The Nest

Hiking at Starved Rock, I was thrilled to see dozens of eagles and many nests in the high trees atop the rocky cliffs along the river.

They’re fairly easy to spot in the wild from below. But I’ve never seen one from above except for those that had been preserved and relocated to a display case, like the visitor center at the state park.

From below, the nest looks gnarly and prickly, with jagged chunks of sharp sticks poking through. It makes you wonder how comfortable it possibly could be. But that’s from below.

From above, it looks altogether different. The mother eagle lines the inside with feathers and soft fur from animals it has preyed upon, so when the young eaglets hatch, they have a comfortable, warm bed to snuggle into, sleep, eat, and grow.

But as the young eagles mature, the mother starts to “stir the nest.” With her talons and beak, she pulls at the fur and feathers, letting some of the sticks poke through. As the weeks go by, she does this more and more, making the nest uncomfortable for the eaglets so that, along with her increased prodding, when the time is right, they get uncomfortable enough that they eventually leave the nest for a new freedom that they otherwise wouldn't experience.

We all like to be comfortable. But comfort is the enemy of growth.

Sometimes it takes God’s poking and prodding, stirring the nest in our surroundings, to get us to move out from what we’re familiar with in order to experience greater things.

When we get too comfortable, we get complacent. God wants all of us to be growing, and that means having to go through regular and often difficult stages of change in our environment. It feels uncaring early on, but in the long run, it’s God’s love for us that pokes and prods and causes the discomfort that makes us move out of our comfort zone and into new ways to be all that He created us to be.

So if you are getting comfortable, enjoy it for a while, but just know that because God loves you, He’s going to bring about some changes in your life so that you can experience it to its fullest. As you feel the stirring of the nest, know that God has new heights He wants you to soar.

It’ll take some risk on your part, and along the way you’ll have to step out in faith to get those wings doing what they’re supposed to do. But it sure beats spending your whole life stuck in a stick bowl on top of a cold, rocky cliff.