by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Seeing Through Life’s Troubles

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Though mature seagulls are a common sight from sea to shining sea, people don’t often get a glimpse of seagull chicks. And though the adults are a nuisance, stealing food and pooping where they want, even on a fork of peas (that’s a story for another day), seagull chicks are cute and fluffy betraying their future selves.

This rock cliff was this chick’s home for around forty-five days. It was not a large rock, and I didn’t see any other gull chicks, but from the time it walked out of the nest around twenty-four hours after hatching, to the day it took to flight, this cliff was its home. This parent seemed unconcerned, oblivious to the fact that the chick could get into trouble without warning. Despite what we might think, this chick’s parents had picked a good place for it to grow and eventually become a human nuisance.

What troubles do you see around you? What dangers are you confronting like monsters in a dark alley?

“The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.”
Psalm 9:9-10 New Living Translation

Mom and dad gulls are vigilant in caring for their chicks. They protect them, feed them, and even thought it might not seem like it, find a safe place to raise them.

It might appear that God doesn’t care about our troubles. However, even when he doesn’t answer prayers the way we want and we feel the silence of God, he has not abandoned us. He has not abandoned you. Your faith in Christ holds on to God’s presence even when you feel his absence.

With a change in perspective, instead of seeing the dangers of the cliff, we can see the beauty of the ocean, the beauty of living as God’s redeemed knowing that the day is coming when we will take flight in the presence of the Lamb.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado