Oral Roberts: The Stirring of My Nest

When the Nest Is No Longer Comfortable

There are seasons in our lives when everything appears to be going well. We may have a comfortable place, a successful ministry, a good reputation, and a sense of stability. Yet, underneath the outward success, God may begin to stir something within us.

This was the experience of Oral Roberts in his book Expect a Miracle. He had a growing church in Enid, Oklahoma, and things seemed to be going well. Yet he became increasingly dissatisfied because he knew that God had called him to something more.

He sensed that God was calling him to take the healing power of Jesus to his generation. The comfortable nest was no longer enough. Something inside him was being stirred.

Sometimes the greatest evidence that God is moving us forward is not comfort, but holy dissatisfaction.

The Eagle and the Stirring of the Nest

Roberts used the picture of the eagle from Deuteronomy 32:11–12 to explain what he believed God was doing in his life.

The mother eagle prepares a comfortable nest for her young. But when the time comes for the eaglets to learn to fly, she begins to stir the nest. The very place that once represented safety and comfort becomes uncomfortable.

The purpose is not to harm the young birds. The purpose is to move them toward maturity.

There are times when God stirs our nest—not because He has abandoned us, but because He is preparing us to fly.

What once satisfied us may no longer satisfy us. What once felt comfortable may begin to feel restrictive. God may be enlarging our vision, deepening our faith, and calling us into a new dimension of obedience.

When Religious Success Is Not Enough

Roberts sought counsel from denominational leaders, but they encouraged him to remain satisfied with the successful church he already had.

Yet his heart was being pulled toward the call he believed God had given him.

His father had previously taught him that the miracles of the early church would return, and that he should keep learning the Word, listen to the Holy Spirit, and continue preaching until God's time came. His mother also encouraged him to obey God and remain humble.

This is an important lesson: success is not always the same as obedience.

A person can be successful in the eyes of people and still know that God is calling him or her into something deeper. The question is not merely, "Is this working?" The deeper question is, "Is this what God is asking me to do?"

A Crisis in the Classroom

While attending a church-related university, Roberts encountered teaching that challenged his understanding of the biblical account of creation. Although he remained outwardly quiet, the experience deeply disturbed him.

The experience became part of a larger spiritual struggle. He was asking how he could know Jesus more deeply and how he could live and minister as Jesus did.

God was bringing him into a place where his faith could no longer rest merely on tradition, denominational expectations, or intellectual ideas. He needed a personal revelation of Christ.

"Show Me Jesus"

Roberts describes a period in which he asked God to show him how to be like Jesus and minister as Jesus ministered.

He believed God directed him to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts three times consecutively in thirty days, while praying on his knees. He fasted and sought God, learning dependence upon Him.

Through this process, Roberts said he began to see Jesus in a new way.

This is one of the central lessons of the chapter: if we want to understand the ministry of Jesus, we must look at Jesus Himself.

The Christian life is not merely a philosophy, a theological system, or a religious tradition. It is life in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit takes the written Word and makes it living and personal in our hearts.

Jesus Became the Center

As Roberts read the Gospels, he became increasingly focused on the miraculous ministry of Jesus.

He saw Jesus healing the sick, ministering to the hurting, confronting demons, dealing with sin, overcoming fear, and bringing hope to people who had little hope.

Roberts recognized that he had sometimes been more concerned with pleasing church people than with seeing hurting people delivered.

He came to realize that he did not want simply to be an echo of his denomination. He wanted to become consumed with the ministry of Jesus.

That is a powerful challenge for every believer and every minister: Are we simply repeating what we have learned, or are we personally encountering Jesus and allowing Him to shape our ministry?

The Revelation of 3 John 2

One morning, Roberts's Bible fell open to 3 John 2:

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

He described this verse as dramatically changing his thinking.

He began to see that God's concern reaches into the whole person. Spiritual life, mental and emotional well-being, physical health, and daily life were no longer disconnected in his understanding.

The verse became, in his words, a "battering ram" against old theological walls.

For Roberts, this Scripture became a key part of his growing conviction that God desires people to experience His life and wholeness—not merely in their spiritual lives, but in every area of their existence.

God Lets Him See People Differently

Then came a series of dreams that Roberts believed were from God.

Night after night, he saw people as God saw them. He became aware of the hidden pain behind people's outward appearance—their sicknesses, fears, losses, disappointments, and inward groans.

People who appeared successful could be hurting. People who appeared strong could be carrying deep wounds. Every person had a story.

The dreams affected him so deeply that he began walking in his sleep. He told Evelyn that he believed his time had come and that the healing ministry God had promised was now present.

The following Sunday, he preached differently. He no longer saw the congregation merely as a crowd sitting in church. He saw hurting people who needed Jesus.

His preaching became increasingly compassionate and filled with faith that God was going to do great things.

The Real Meaning of a Stirred Nest

The stirring of the nest is not always comfortable.

Sometimes it comes through dissatisfaction. Sometimes through questions. Sometimes through circumstances that challenge our assumptions. Sometimes God simply places a deeper desire in our hearts that will not go away.

But the stirring has a purpose.

God may be preparing us for a larger assignment. He may be calling us out of dependence on comfort and into dependence on Him.

The nest represents what is familiar. The wings represent what God is calling us to become.

The transition between the two can be uncomfortable, but it can also be the beginning of something greater.

What This Chapter Teaches Us Today

A Final Thought

Sometimes the discomfort is the preparation.

Sometimes God is not destroying your nest. He is teaching you to fly.

When God begins to stir what has become comfortable, do not immediately assume that something has gone wrong. Pray. Open the Word. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Examine your heart. Ask God what He is preparing you for.

The stirring may be an invitation to deeper faith, greater obedience, and a clearer vision of Jesus.

The question is not simply, "Why is my nest being stirred?"

Perhaps the better question is:

"Lord, where are You teaching me to fly?"