What do you do when you get stressed out?  Maybe you don’t ever get stressed?  If we are honest, most of us would admit to have some level of stress in our lives at any given time.  When I am overwhelmed, my first reaction is to go to bed and sleep it off.  I know that probably isn’t the best way to deal with things because it really doesn’t deal with anything.  In fact, once I wake up, I have even more stress when I look in the mirror and see how messed up my hair got during my nap!

Yesterday morning, Jim and I were looking at our windows trying to figure out how we were going to wash them.  We’ve gotten quotes ranging from $285 to over $500.  That’s just nuts!  So, as we were looking out assessing our situation, I noticed something that moved on the ground below.  Low and behold it was a little adolescent robin taking a nap right out in the middle of the backyard!  Immediately, I had to go get my camera and run down there to get a picture.  However, the robin just wouldn’t cooperate.  It was all curled up in a ball sound asleep not hearing a thing going on around it.

As I got closer, it just slept.  I nudged it with a stick and it looked up at me like, “Don’t you know it’s Sunday morning?!  I’m sleeping in!” and then quickly tucked its head back under its wing before I could snap a photo.  I whistled thinking maybe a little bird talk would stir him—nothing.  There was nothing I was going to do to get a response out of this bird today.  I started thinking about how that bird often resembles me or others I know who would just rather curl up in a ball and forget the world instead of facing our fears and forging ahead.

How about you?  Have you tried and failed enough that it just doesn’t matter anymore?  Is God nudging you and whistling at you to no avail?  Perhaps if you’d pop your head out for a few minutes, you would realize there is a whole world out there just waiting for you to make your mark on it!  However, if you refuse to get up, trust God and hear His direction, you will always be ineffective.   It’s OK to take a few minutes to regroup when stress hits; but, don’t stay there long.  Nothing is going to change in life unless we are moving forward.  If you’re sleeping and ignoring life, you’re wasting time!  We have all of eternity to slow down.  However, we have very limited time on this earth and we must make the best of it while we are here.

I have seen a lot of wild animals around and have also heard about some living in my woods I don’t see.  All I could think about was how vulnerable this little robin was sound asleep in the middle of the lawn for all to see.  His inattentiveness to his surroundings may in the end cost him his life.  If he were going to check-out for a while, he should have at least done it hidden somewhere away from those that may lurk in the trees waiting for the opportunity to catch him off-guard and devour him.  Perhaps even while another bird friend stood watch nearby.

It’s a dangerous place for us as well when we tune God out and do our own thing.  We need to be listening, alert, attentive, surrounded by Godly friends and aware of our environment at all times.  If we give up on any of these things in our Christian walks, it is an opening for the enemy to move in and destroy.  The robin was lucky this time that I wasn’t a fox that was nudging him with my nose; rather, a curious human with a gentle stick.

How are you handling life today?  Are you checked-out, asleep in the grass, not worrying about what comes next?  Or are you pleading with God to nudge you and speak to you with wisdom from above to help you overcome?  Are you going to church and surrounding yourself with other believers who will watch over you as you travel through life’s struggles; or are you just sleeping in on Sunday morning and opening yourself up to the roaring lion of Satan to come and devour you as you slumber?

The choice is yours, as always.

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.