by Rachel Harkins
We had a problem yesterday…an escapee chick problem. Now, we aren’t sure if it was the same chick each time or rather a “monkey see, monkey do” situation – or should I say “chick see, chick do”? Whatever the case, several times yesterday we found a chick either perched on the side of the tub or on the arm of the lamp. Each time it heard us, however, it would jump back in the tub. Hmmmm…just who do you think you’re fooling, little chick?
By this time I’m thinking – we’re gonna have to find something out in the barn to lay over that tub before one totally flies the coop – or should I say, “flies the tub”? Whatever the case, my predictions came true. Before we made it out to the barn, one little chick did indeed fully escape – only to find out that the cold, hard, kitchen floor wasn’t so great after all…not to mention no food, no water, and no protection from human feet. I walked into the kitchen to find one scared-to-death little chick just sitting there all alone. Hey there, silly little chick, can you hear your little buddies chirping happily in the safety of home?
That incident yesterday reminded me of the following verse:
“As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.” Proverbs 27:8
How often are we guilty of discontentment in our “place”…to the point of wandering? We may not physically wander off at first. Wandering usually begins in the mind where we entertain thoughts of life in another “place”. But, if we are not careful to guard our mind from those vain imaginations, they will soon become actions.
Matthew Henry’s comments on the above verse are as follows:
“Note, 1. There are many that do not know when they are well off, but are uneasy with their present condition, and given to change. God, in his providence, has appointed them a place fit for them and has made it comfortable to them; but they affect unsettledness; they love to wander; they are glad of a pretence to go abroad, and do not care for staying long at a place; they needlessly absent themselves from their own work and care, and meddle with that which belongs not to them. 2. Those that thus desert the post assigned to them are like a bird that wanders from her nest. It is an instance of their folly; they are like a silly bird; they are always wavering, like the wandering bird that hops from bough to bough and rests nowhere. It is unsafe; the bird that wanders is exposed; a man’s place is his castle; he that quits it makes himself an easy prey to the fowler. When the bird wanders from her nest the eggs and young ones there are neglected. Those that love to be abroad leave their work at home undone. Let every man therefore, in the calling wherein he is called, therein abide, therein abide with God.”
Christians who wander out of the “place” God has for them will eventually find out their discontentment has led them to a far worse situation than what they thought they were in before they went astray. How important for us to learn contentment! How important for children to learn contentment as they realize those boundaries they see as bondage are actually a bulwark of protection from the bondage of sin! How important for wives and mothers to learn contentment instead of continually longing for what others have! How important for husbands and fathers to learn contentment where God has placed them!
All of this is not to say that God would never lead us from one place to another place. But, there is a big difference between God leading a person and that person simply wandering. The definition for wander is – “to move about without a fixed course, aim or goal.” Because of their disobedience, God allowed the children of Israel to wander for 40 years. Forty years of wasted living…yet, how many people live their lives the same way with a continual restless spirit?
Just as we placed a protective screen over our chicks’ tub, God will often place roadblocks in our lives – not for our harm, but to protect us from the dangers of wandering about. However, if we continue to break through the protective roadblocks, God may just let us experience an extended time of roaming…heartaches included.
Entertaining thoughts of wandering? Before leaving our “place”, how very, very important to make sure God is leading us and not our own restless spirit. (And by the way, God will never lead us contrary to His Word.) Until we know for sure, we are much better off staying in our place and learning contentment.
“…I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11
Original article can be found at http://www.inthineheart.com/2015/04/14/dont-be-a-silly-bird-learning-contentment/
by Rachel Harkins