A Dream About Birds | Rest, Trust, and Faith Reflection

A Dream About Birds: A Reflection on Rest, Trust, and Faith

Of all the animals in the world, and wow, God made so many, I can never stop loving birds. Horses are majestic. Lions, powerful. But birds? Birds are the ones I can’t stop watching, small, vulnerable, and somehow completely free. I always pay attention to them no matter where I am.

The other night I had a dream about chickens and birds. It’s not unusual for me to dream about chickens as we have had them for over a decade since Bill brought a few home for our daughter. We have had chickens in our lives ever since. I just love them.

Since analyzing my dreams is something I do often, I had to investigate this dream because this dream was very vivid, full of color and the greatest part? It was wonderful! I’d love to talk about dreams sometimes because they fascinate me, but for now I’ll stick to this one.

These birds were not soaring. They weren’t dramatic. Some were small. Tiny, round birds the color of deep blue evening skies.

In this dream, I was walking along and I came across an old shed-like building. It looked abandoned at first, but when I paid attention, I noticed it had been built for birds. It was built over sand. Lots of clean sand.

The building itself had different parts to it. There were built-in metal perches where these chickens and birds could rest. Lots of openings. Space to rest. It was waiting.

The concern in the dream was nightfall.

Predators. Darkness. Safety.

The birds needed to be protected and I was so concerned that they would be. The strange thing is, there were no birds there YET. It was empty.  As time went on, and I was walking through this building I thought they could at least go into the covered part of the building as there were no doors to this building.

Then, in my dream, there appeared all kinds of birds. Not just chickens. Tiny ones. Gentle ones. Birds of every kind gathering on sandy ground. They nestled so close together they almost became one long, living shape. Not perfect. Not orderly. Just close.

I tried to move them.  They needed to get into the covered part of the building to be safe.

But they wouldn’t move.

They weren’t scared. They weren’t frantic. They were comfortable.

I picked up a couple of the tiny dark blue birds. They were soft round balls. But they wouldn’t move. They settled back down. They were ready to sleep, piled together, trusting the ground beneath them and the closeness around them.

I remember thinking, how can they rest like this?  And yet, they were resting.

I woke up thinking about how often I assume safety requires movement.

Fix this. Go there. Build more. Do more.

But the birds in my dream weren’t resisting help. They simply didn’t need to be rushed. The shed was real safety. It existed. It was prepared FOR them. But it wasn’t urgent.

Sometimes what we call protection is really our discomfort with stillness. Stillness is something I enjoy a lot lately.  Just sit with your thoughts and talk with God.  It has become something I deeply enjoy.

The birds already had what they needed. Warmth. Togetherness. Rest.

“And the birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.” Psalm 104:12

This verse doesn’t talk about striving or securing or earning. It talks about belonging.

Birds often show up when the soul is thinking about care, freedom and trust. Birds are small, vulnerable, and yet provided for. Our lives need care, protection, and rest, not danger or fear. Birds are observant, responsive to environment, able to leave when they need to, able to return when it’s safe, not built to conquer but to navigate.

Jesus didn’t point to lions when He talked about trust. He pointed to birds.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Father feeds them.”  Matt. 6:25

Birds live in daily dependence. (Something to aspire to)
Birds are not in denial of danger, but without hoarding fear.

I did some analyzation of this dream about the birds. I discovered that it revealed some things about where I am right now. Since losing Bill, I’ve been living a life where visibility hasn’t always felt safe. Birds have let me imagine freedom without exposure. Movement without being chased. Rest without being trapped.

In my dream, the birds trusted the ground. In real life, birds trust the air. So, am I moving into a season of learning how to trust where I am, not just where I’m going?   It would be nice.  In what season are you?

If you’re drawn to birds like me, or maybe never thought about them much, birds are symbols of discernment, timing and faith.

Perhaps this dream reflects that it’s safe to rest my wings, which is interesting because lately I’ve been asking myself if I’m wasting my time. With writing. With building something slowly (and it is going way too slow). With choosing meaning over noise.

I suppose not everything needs to be moved to be safe, optimized to be protected. Some things need to be allowed to rest where they are.  Maybe you don’t need to rush either.

Maybe the place you’re standing feels unfinished or exposed, but it has already been prepared for you, just like this shed was prepared for these birds.

Maybe closeness, faith and quiet trust are doing more work than you realize.

The birds didn’t need to fly. They didn’t need to hide. They didn’t need to prove anything.

They simply stayed. Together. And rested.

Oh and one more thing about birds, they sing even when they’re not seen.
Sing, even if no one can hear.

If oppression is something you deal with. I wrote about it here:
https://juliedigitalcreation.online/when-oppression-follows-loss/

Some extras:

Here’s a great short video on the teachings of Jesus regarding wealth and worry, and guess what’s mentioned? Birds.
https://bibleproject.com/videos/wealth-and-worry/

Why we are told to not worry…
https://www.gotquestions.org/do-not-worry-about-your-life.html

Until next time.
Lost.Loved.Found. xoxoxoxo