Tragedy struck here on the morning of June 27! All four baby robins had suddenly vanished from the nest. We had been video-monitoring their progress every day. They were just nine days old.
We turned on the camera in time to see Mama Robin arrive with a worm in her beak. She must have just discovered the tragedy. We watched her look perplexingly over the nest. She hopped in and circled around. Then, she ate the worm. How sad! While she pecked over the nest’s floor for one last clean up, Papa Robin arrived and discovered the tragedy. There they both stood at the nest’s edge, gazing at the empty space. Soon, they both flew off, abandoning the nest, likely forever. How tragic!
Likely, moments earlier, the babies had become a hearty breakfast for the nearby crows that probably swooped under the eve of the roof to snatch them up. Yes, crows need food, too. Yes, that’s nature — the food chain. And yes, statistics suggest that only 25 per cent of baby robins survive. But such dry facts do nothing for me. That’s not the point.
That morning, I was robbed of a little sparkle, a little joyful anticipation. I had enjoyed watching the nest every day. Soon, the big event would have arrived: their first flight. No pre-recorded bird video can replace that sense of anticipation. Actually, it’s the anticipation that I lost.
Isn’t that what we all need, something to look forward to, something not yet experienced? — some wonder. We can, however, quickly be robbed of our anticipations, sometimes tragically. Thankfully, God’s loved ones cannot be robbed of their ultimate anticipation, “an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” (1 Peter 1:4 NLT)
This heavenly anticipation can easily become dulled in our minds. Earthly preoccupations diminish heaven’s wonder. Even our prayers can become restrained by earthly anticipations. We pray for a better life here, for body, nation, church organization, etc. We don’t necessarily want God’s eternal best. That’s sad, for “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV)
Through his classic work, “The saints’ everlasting rest”, Richard Baxter reminds us that if God answered all our prayer requests, we’d become too satisfied here. We’d lose our longing for God’s best — His better rest.
On that point, I pause, for suddenly I’m interrupted by a bird’s loud, melodious singing drifting in through the window. I look. Why, that’s Mama Robin singing heartily from the rooftop next door, near the empty nest. Obviously, tragedy did not rob her of her song!
So also, for us. We can keep on singing. For no matter what tragedy befalls us, we will never be robbed of our best anticipation.
All the way my Saviour leads me — Oh, the fullness of His love!
All the Way My Saviour Leads Me by Fanny Crosby
Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father’s house above:
When my spirit, clothed, immortal, wings its flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages, “Jesus led me all the way!”
Prayer: Lord, whenever we get too earthly-minded, too settled here, keep us longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, by Diane Eaton <d.eaton@bmts.com>, first published on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional presbycan.ca .
Paisley, Ontario, Canada
Reprinted from PresbyCan with author’s permission