Matthew 6:26 - "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
A few weeks ago my little family of six drove up to the mountains in Georgia and had a week long adventure at a creekside cabin. We anticipated this vacation for some time as the days in our home seem to drag on and never end. It was just what we needed and the boys had a great time playing in the creek behind the house.
While we were there we checked out a local BBQ place. The food was good, being with the kids was fun and what happened when we left was one of those teachable moments straight from the Word. A little bird had escaped his mother's nest and found itself almost trampled under our three year old's foot. Barrett went skipping across the front lawn of the BBQ place and stopped just short of a newborn bird. All the kids went hysterical and the little bird was wide-mouthed just waiting for someone to feed him. We gave him a little to drink (which we later found out was not the right thing to do but he didn't choke so it ended okay) and then after several minutes of contemplation, decided to find a nice big bush to place him under. Of course as you can imagine, the children were not at all happy about this decision but didn't understand that we'd be driving home 10 hours the next day and could not possibly take an orphaned bird with us. That is when it hit me...share the verse about how God takes care of the birds of the air. It was accepted well by the boys and they were able to leave the bird behind trusting that the little bird's Creator would take care of him.
How many times do we doubt the Father, our Creator, will really take care of us - the apple of His eye, His bride? There is another story in the Old Testament about birds and trust found in the book of 1 Kings. God send the prophet Elijah to King Ahab to deliver a message that drought would be in the land for three years. And then God tells Elijah to go hide from the place where he was and that God would give him water from a brook and food from the ravens of the air. Now, I don't know about you but I'd have a hard time going out into the wilderness and believing for a second some dang black birds were going to feed me - and not to mention, they didn't just bring him berries and nuts but meat and bread! Anyway, Elijah did what he was told and eventually God moved him to another place after the brook dried up (that's an entirely different story with an entirely different lesson - we'll save it for another time). Bottom line, God took care of Elijah!
Just as God was faithful in the Old Testament, just as God is faithful to other believers around us, just as He cares for the birds of the air, He will provide what we need for our lives. I'm sure there were moments when Elijah was making his journey to the Kerith Valley he must have wondered how God would ever provide for him...not only was he in a valley, it was during a drought!
Just as God was faithful in the Old Testament, just as God is faithful to other believers around us, just as He cares for the birds of the air, He will provide what we need for our lives. I'm sure there were moments when Elijah was making his journey to the Kerith Valley he must have wondered how God would ever provide for him...not only was he in a valley, it was during a drought!
So, an age old message many of us have heard time and time again about believing God provides despite circumstances. Let it be a reminder to you today that your God will take care of you, He will provide the resources -whether it be money, time, or relationships-to fulfill the purpose in which you were created. Take time to look for them, keep your eyes and ears open in order to see the incredible ways God will provide. I'm sure Elijah never dreamed that one day a bird would be serving him dinner!
Today's Reading: 1 Kings 16-17; Proverbs 27
Additional scripture references: Hebrews 11 and Matthew 6
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