Unexpected Blessings: Where Did You Come From?

God is faithful to give me “little God nudges” in the most unexpected ways and I absolutely LOVE it.  We have chickens on our little farm and recently reached the point of having 20-something chickens. We were feeling pretty maxed out and it seems like just the other day that I mentioned to my husband, “These chickens are a lot of trouble! Something is always happening to one of them. We don’t need to have any more chicken babies.  I can’t handle any more chicken chores!”

We left for vacation shortly after our “chicken overload revelation.” A week later we returned and immediately resumed the process of our normal chicken chores. Not long after our return, we were cleaning the coop one afternoon when I suddenly heard my husband exclaim, “What on earth?!” 

Peeking out from under the ramp going into the coop was the cutest little chick!

We had been diligently pulling broody hens off the nest and making sure to collect all of our eggs so we didn’t hatch any more chicks but lo and behold a mama hen had plans of her own.  She had somehow managed to make nest and sit on it for 21 days and we didn’t even realize it.  She was safely tucked away out of sight, laughing at me as she fouled my plans to keep our chicken numbers down.  We ended up with seven chicks who are now half gown and healthier then ANY of our previous chicks.

God’s Plan Will Prevail

God’s gentile reminder in all of this is just this: I may think I know best and try to move forward with my own plans, but I should be careful about setting my heart on the plans I create.

With previous chicks, I’ve carefully set up the brooder area, monitored and fed the mama hen perfectly, guarded her against the other hens, checked for hatching eggs, etc. I generally did everything in my power to help her along.

God is a lot like the mother hen who surprised me. He really doesn’t need me fussing over His plan and helping it along. Even more, He might not feel the need to tell me about His plan until I unexpectedly experience the fruit of the plan.

In this particular case it was seven darling chicks, but it might be a child or any number of things so remember friend:

“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Originally Posted: Oct. 5, 2016