Flying into Windows

How many of you either witnessed a bird flying into a window or heard the sickening thud?  Thankfully, most of the time, once the the "stun" has wore off, they do fly off.  Some birds are not so lucky and you find them in a heap on the ground...

I sense a spiritual lesson coming on...

If I were a bird, I'd be flying into windows

I have an amazing gift for walking into slider screens. Yup, all 5' 10" of grace over here!

The first time was at my friend Liz's house many, many years ago.  I was carrying plates with a bunch of silverware on top to bring out onto their deck.  Imagine my surprise when I found myself bouncing backwards with force and hearing the sound of silverware crashing all around!  We all had a good laugh, but my ego was somewhat bruised.  lol.

I had a repeat performance at my brother's house years later.  This time I didn't have anything in my hands and was walking from the outside into their family room.   I hit the screen with such force, that my neck snapped back and I'm pretty sure I gave myself whiplash!  No exaggeration.  I was somewhat stunned after I did it.  My brother joked that he could still see the imprint of my face on the screen.  lol

Recently, my husband and I had all of our windows replaced.  They are wonderfully clean and clear!  I'm not sure how long that will last since I did not inherit my mom's regimented schedule for meticulously clean windows.  But for now I walk around the house enjoying the fact that it doesn't even look like there is a window in place - they are that clean!

Apparently, a resident bird thought the same thing as I heard a loud crash/thud one morning.  It wasn't until several days later when I was in my bedroom that I noticed the perfect imprint of a bird on my front window.  You could see every detail of the bird from its intricate feathers, to its outspread wings, its feet and it's beak!  I tried to take a picture of the silhouette of the bird on my window, but the camera wouldn't translate it and instead focused on what was outside the window...

All the above, painful lessons about the consequences of being distracted.

Don't let what's on the Other Side of the Window Distract You

Come to think of it, isn't that what I was doing walking into the screens and what the bird did flying into the window...

We were so focused on what was past the screen/window, that we missed what was right in front of us, to our injury...

Too often we do that in life.  As Believers, our focus should be on Christ alone, but instead, we focus on what we want or perceive as desirable, and end up crashing into circumstances that only hurt us or worse yet, hurt others.

Fly into the Window of Christ and His Example

It is so very important to first take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5.  In so doing, we bring our thoughts into submission to God's will and not on what we desire.  It causes us to pause and seek Wisdom from above before moving forward.  As children of God, the more we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, the more our desires will line up with the will of God.

Second, it's important to pray.  Before moving forward with not only the big things in life, but the day to day mundane, seek the Lord in prayer and ask Him if this is what He would have us do with our time at this moment in time.

The Lord is always ready when we call upon Him.   Nothing is insignificant to Him.  He is our ever present help.

We can learn much from the Lord, especially from his slowness...  And what I mean by that is He took His time when responding to circumstances - He didn't rush into them.  His responses were thoughtfully carried out and intentional.

In life, we find ourselves walking into screens or flying into windows because we are rushing.  We don't take the time to assess the situation, to discern Satan's lies or comprehend our own sin in the situation.

Think about the silhouette of the bird on my window... We leave that same type of imprint from our selfish desires upon loved ones, acquaintances or even strangers that we trample over when we are focused upon what we want, and don't consider how it effects others.

Believe it or not, I still can have residual pain from the whiplash I sustained from slamming head first into the slider screen all those years ago.  Something to think about the next time we are focused on what's outside of the screen door or window of life...  Do we want to endure lasting pain from a rushed decision or know that we have caused pain to another individual OR do we want to seek the Lord with our whole heart and soul and surrender our will to Him?

I'm sure we can all agree that surrendering our will to the Lord will bring much joy to our own lives and the lives of others.  {I wrote about how to surrender your will to the Lord in my post, What's God's Will For My Life which you can read HERE.}

We don't have to look through screens or windows to find our happiness.  We just need to look to Jesus where all our abundant joy lives.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

  In the light of His glory and grace."

Let your life be a window to Christ and all that He is.

You might find me on these link-ups:

Grace & Truth Link-up, Woman to Woman Ministries, Inspire Me Monday, A Wise Women Builds Her Home, Spiritual Sundays, Soul Survival,  Good Morning Mondays, Tell His Story, Faith & Fellowship Blog Hop,   Tuesday Talk,    Faith 'N Friends,  Sitting Among Friends   House to Home  ,Wonderful Wednesday , Literacy Musings Mondays,Imparting Grace, Dance with Jesus,  Booknificent Thursdays ,  Fresh Market Friday Moments of Hope Wonderful Wednesdays , Tea & Word Tuesday Heart Encouragement Thursday Hearts for Home Messy Marriage Link-up Friday at the Fire Station Link-up Tune In Thursday Faith on Fire Link-up, Sunday Scripture Blessings Link-up, Sunday Thoughts, Writer Wednesday, Faith Filled Friday God Sized Dreams Link-Up Sitting Among Friends Be Thee Inspired