Stuck

Just down the road from our house is a small lake that formed in a low spot this summer after we experienced above normal rainfall. It has been a joy to see the ducks, geese and other waterfowl gather throughout the summer and fall months. Late fall weather has arrived and the pond is now in the process of freezing. Most of the waterfowl have already begun their flight south to warmer locals. Most, but not all. As I drove past this morning I noticed hundreds of small ducks all clustered together in tiny patches of open water amongst a sea of ice. I wondered if it was their body heat that kept the ice at bay. They didn't fly as I approached. Strange. Then I saw they were coots. Coots need to run on the water to take flight. These little ones are stuck. They stayed too long. I suppose the water seemed like a great place to stop and rest. It looked good, felt right, and was until they tarried. I do not know what their fate will be. The weather is not forecasted to warm, on the contrary a deeper cold is coming. I remember a similar event happening when I was young. I grew up in Nevada, there wasn't much water, but one day it rained at just the right time. The coots saw the wet pavement and thought it was water. It must have looked just right, black and deep. Once they landed they were stuck. Hundreds of them all over the roads. Many were rescued by the locals, caught, and taken to open water so they could take flight.
I began thinking about staying too long in one place spiritually. It may initially seem like a good place to stop and rest, I may need rest, but if I stay too long, I run the risk of getting stuck. Or I may be fooled into thinking this is a good place, it may be like the wet road, appearing from a distance to be just what I need, but in fact a cruel trap. You know, I have stayed in places that I knew were not good for me, but they became comfortable. I have stayed in unforgiveness, bitterness, laziness. Move me along Lord, take me to open water and get me up and flying again. I don't want to stay stuck.