Today I accomplished a lot of cleaning in the house today. The last place I tackled was the laundry room. I started by disinfecting the floor, the washer and dryer, as well as some other odds and ends things. To more thoroughly clean behind the machines, I moved each one forward, one by one, cleaning as much surface area as I possibly could, getting rid of all the lint, dust and other grime that had accumulated.
As I moved the dryer forward, the vent disconnected from the dryer. The dryer had pretty much been going nonstop throughout the day. This load had a few minutes to go when the vent accidentally came off, so I shut the dryer off for the time being. I wasn’t planning on taking it off, but opportunity presented itself and I thought, ah, good idea! So, I was glad it happened to remind me it needed to be cleaned out too.
With my bare hand, I reached inside and grabbed ahold of what I thought was lint that got clumped up and stuck inside. With my hand secured around it, I pulled it out and couldn’t believe what I pulled from the inside. A bird, looked to be a tree swallow. I thought I felt more inside so I reached back as far as I could. One by one, I pulled out 6 dead birds who had made their home inside the dryer vent.
Never in my wildest imagination would I have ever imagined I would be pulling out a family of birds. They were very hard and dry. Who knows how long they were inside the dryer vent. This summer has been cloudy, rainy, and cool. My guess is they took shelter in a place that seemed warm and inviting, a place to raise their young. Little did the tree swallow family realize their home, their nest, was not as it seemed.
There must be some lesson, some important message that needs to be brought to light from this experience. My mind kept going to the devil, the ultimate deceiver. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Was it the works of the enemy that led this family into the darkness, leading them to believe this was their ultimate home, a place of warmth, light, and love to raise their family? How could they resist a place of where they could take comfort and rest, be protected from the outside dangers of the world, a place to stay warm, dry and be fed so they will grow?
All along, it was a trap as they were being led astray thinking it was something good. Who knew this seemingly perfect home would be the place of their eternal rest?
I’ve been searching for scripture that most accurately reflects what happened during this situation. Here is what I came across:
“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV)
Being deceived by the greatest deceiver, Satan, can easily happen to any of us, unless…, unless we’ve come to know God’s word, His voice, and His workings in our life. I’ve been tempted, have fallen for the bait, have done wrong, sinned, learned things the hard way in several circumstances. I had been led into darkness, even though I thought it was of the light, saying and doing things I wanted to see and hear, rather than what I needed. So many things seem so enticing, but don’t fall for everything or believe every word you hear.
God is the way, the truth, and the light. In a world where there can be much darkness, we need to continually seek Him to find our way through and walk with Him every step of the way. He will show us and lead us to where it is we need to be every moment of every day.
Don’t take everything as being the truth, or at face value. Question, seek answers and discover for yourself what is real. If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is.
Magnificent Meraki 