Good morning and welcome to the January 28th Musing.

As I sat on my porch early one morning, having my own private version of coffee and commentary*, I noticed a hawk flying.    Love watching hawks.   Handsome birds.   Soaring birds.   Circling.

And do you know why hawks sit on church steeples?  

Because they are birds of pray.

And check out this conversation between two hawks…

“Look at that speed!” said one hawk to another as the jet fighter hurtled over their heads. 

“Hmph!” snorted the other. “You would fly fast too if your tail was on fire!”

Yeah, I agree…hawks don’t lend themselves to the strongest of jokes.   But turning off the humor for a moment I want to discuss these birds of prey.  Did you know hawks love chickens?   As in, love to attack chickens.    

I did watch that hawk that morning.     And our chickens were watching that hawk as well…from inside their coop.   But they hadn’t noticed the hawk until it landed on the fence next to their coop.    And boy DID they then notice!   And DID they squawk!     

And as I watched this drama from the porch…this “panic in the pen”, I thought, “there is really no safer place for the chickens to be than inside the coop”.    For no matter what the hawk did, while I kept the chickens inside, they were in absolutely no danger.   But they did not know it.   Chill chickens…just chill.   Pull up a chair, sip on a latte.    For while you are inside the coop, you have no worries.   Not while I’m here.

As I watched this scenario for a couple of minutes, it occurred to me that in many ways, we are not much different than these chickens.    Sovereignly in God’s will, with nothing allowed into our lives but what a good, wise, gracious Father brings, we could and should relax in the Father’s care.   But no…we squawk “look at that!!”   We scream “this is bad!!”   We worry and exclaim “why God?!”

Chill Rod…just chill.

Let us not be chickens in our course of life.   But simply…

Be joyful…
Be prayerful…
Be thankful…

How can I say this?    Well, Paul said it…

Rejoice always;
pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB95)

Chickens do not have the capability to relax in an understanding of the care of the Father.   We do.   So while safely in our “coop of God’s sovereignty”, let us in our spirits pull up that chair and have that latte.    Rest brothers and sisters…our Lord knows the hawk is there…and sovereignly placed it so.

Rod Milton

S.D.G. – 4

* For a great devotional, I highly recommend William Varner’s study on the Psalms, Awake O Harp.