Five Minute Friday: Bare

I travel through quite a bit of countryside to take my children to school each day.  Each season offers a beauty of its own.  During the winter months, as I cross the river, I enjoy looking at a certain bank of trees with their barren branches scribbling at the sky.  Unmasked of their leaves, I see several birds’ nests nestled high in their branches.  The nests seem so exposed and vulnerable in the bare landscape, and yet their height speaks of security and they are snug and secure in the arms of the tree.

These nests remind me that the Lord lifts us high, and we are secure and safe in His arms.  Each nest represents a home, life, a haven of rest.  Sometimes in the winter seasons of life, we feel vulnerable…exposed...bare to the world.  The “leaf cover” of happy times and good things are stripped away, and we sometimes plod through the trial in silent pain.  We tend to wear masks when we are hurting, and shy away from baring ourselves to one another, for fear of seeming weak or vulnerable.  It’s hard to admit your struggle, when everyone around you seems so “leafy.”

During the summer months, when the trees are lush and green, and the nests are hidden from view, I’m sure those birds are aware that there are other nests in the near vicinity.  As believers, we need to be aware of those around us and reach out.  Do you know a friend who is in a winter season?  Can you see their nest?

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“Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NASB)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”  (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NASB)