Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Friday, January 31, 2014

"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."¹

"Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle's nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs.

"By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals makes them quite reluctant to leave. That's when the mother eagle begins stirring up the nest. With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior."²

Yesterday we implied that motivation comes from withinâ€"that only we can motivate ourselves. When it comes to growth, however, there is another motivator to help get us motivatedâ€"and that is pain that is either caused or allowed by God. Like the mother eagle "motivating" her eaglets to launch out to grow towards their full potential, pain and troubles in our life can be "God's wake-up call" to "stir up our nest," to motivate us to move us out of our comfort zone, and grow towards our God-given potential to become all that he envisioned for us to be and to do all that he wants us to do.

However, it's best to get smart. If we choose to move "out of our comfort zone nest" and become motivated about and involved in God's work, we may avoid some prickly thorns that God may need to send into our life to stir us out of our nest.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, in all the trials and troubles You allow to come into my life, please help me use these as an opportunity to grow so that I will become 'strong in character and ready for anything.' Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. James 1:2-4 (NLT).
2. Today in the Word, June 11, 1989

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