Mama and Daddy Eagle

Once upon a time there was a Mama and Daddy eagle who began to build a nest high on top of a tall sturdy pine tree. They found strong branches to weave together to build their nest. They filled in the spaces with grass, moss, cornstalks and other strong fibers. The inside of the nest is not yet a comfortable place for their babies to be born. To make the nest a comfortable place the eagle parents put their own feathers in the bottom of the nest to pad their future babies from the sharp sticks.
When the eaglets hatch they have a nice comfortable place to live while they are cared for by their parents. There comes a day that the eaglets need to learn to fly. In order to learn to fly they need to leave the nice, big comfy nest they have been accustomed to.
The mama eagle knows that the eaglets will not survive if they don’t learn to fly. She begins to make the nest uncomfortable by taking the soft feathers out of the nest. Now the eaglets’ soft fluffy bed has been turned into a bed of sharp pointy sticks. Mama eagle know that her babies need to fly to survive so she begins to beat her wings driving the eaglet to the edge of the nest. She pushes him over the edge and he begins to fall forcing him to try to use his wings to learn to fly. Since he’s never used them he flaps and falls. Mama swoops under her falling eaglet and catches him on her back and soars upward into the sky.
The eaglet feels safe once again until his mama without warning dives downward causing the eaglet to lose his grip. The mama eaglet continues to allow her baby to fall and flap and each time his wings are strengthened and soon he is able to soar on his own. If mama eagle would not have made her eaglets uncomfortable her babies may have never left the comfort of their nest to become the strong beautiful birds they were intended to be.
In our story today we see how discomfort has a similar effect on the believers.
Let’s think of Jerusalem as a comfortable nest for the believers. When the apostles were thrown in jail and beaten it was like having the feathers plucked out of the nest making life a little less comfortable. When Stephen was stoned to death it was similar to Mama eagle pushing her eaglet out of the nest. God allows difficulties in the lives of believers so others can learn about Jesus. God knew that there were people outside of Jerusalem that needed to hear the Good News about Jesus. It was time for the believers to leave the comfort of Jerusalem and go to other places and obey Jesus’ command to go into all the world.
What's your COMFORT ZONE? Is it hindering you from serving God in deeper levels? Are you ready and willing to move out of your comfort zone...?
When God shakes your comfort zones, count it all joy! Delight in knowing this, that Precious are His thoughts toward you. He has the best plans for you, to give you hope and better end.
God bless you