Resurrecting The Rotten

The other day, I made a post about praying over some duck and turkey eggs I was incubating. 

I prayed that the ducks would not die in their shell because they didn’t have the strength to make it out. I prayed that my turkey eggs were by some miracle fertile, despite the fact that the females who laid them continually avoided the male who could make them fertile. When I prayed those prayers, the Spirit shared with me that there was a spiritual lesson to be learned here. 

Muscovy duck eggs are notoriously difficult to incubate, for various reasons I won’t get into, except to say that 100% hatch rates are typically not very common— I’ve certainly never had one. But every single duck egg hatched that was in those incubators I prayed over the other day. Which is remarkable. But what’s really remarkable, is that one of those eggs was rotten when I candled it, and as I was about to throw it away, my husband said to leave it in the incubator just in case. I argued with him, and showed him the blood and rot that was inside. I shook the egg and showed him there was no responsive movement. But I listened to him and did what he said. 

The lesson the Lord shared with me, was that at its beginning, that egg was fertilized and healthy and full of life. But something happened at some point in its development that began to rob it of life. Death began to take over and rot what was inside. But then someone prayed. And prayer brought the life of Christ into the situation— the very life that has defeated death. And even though that egg was rotten, the life of Christ resurrected the initial fertilization and brought that egg to its intended fullness. 

Every duck egg hatched, but none of the turkey eggs hatched because none of them were fertile. The lesson here, was that none of those turkey eggs ever developed because they never entered the presence of the one who could fertilize them. So, no amount of me praying was ever going to restore life to something that never had life in it in the first place. Contact with the only One Who has life must be made for any life to begin. But just one, heartfelt prayer will restore life, even to a rotten egg. 

Oh, and one more thing….guess how many ducks hatched? Twelve…

(John 1:3,4) Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

(John 11:25-27) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

(2 Tim 1:10,11) And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, to which I was appointed a herald, and an apostle, and a teacher.