Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Matthew 6: 26, 27
Some young girls found this nest of baby birds in a hedge outside of my office building. I had never seen such small birds up close before. They certainly will not win any beauty contests. In fact, these featherless, scrawny, no eyed things are probably beautiful to only one thing, their mother. It is hard to imagine that not too long from now, they will be adult birds with feathers flying and doing what they were created to do. But their mother doesn't care, she cares for them knowing they are more than what they look like right now. Right now, they are helpless. As we peeked in at them, they stretched out their necks and opened their mouths wide. Expectantly waiting for their mother to return with food, an act of faith since they couldn't see what had made the air move around them.
As I thought about these little birds, I was reminded about Jesus' words in Matthew 6. Jesus uses the birds to remind us of God's love and provision for us. And I thought about how I can be a scrawny, naked, no eyed creature, yet God promises to take care of me. Just like the Mother bird, God cares for and protects me even when I look nothing like the child he created me to be. It is a great mystery to understand God's provision of us, his creation which so often falls short. And also, just like the little birds who trust in their mother's provision. All I must do is wait expectantly for God to take care of my needs. He requires nothing of me. Yet, another mystery of God's amazing grace. These birdies may be so ugly only a mother could love them. But in the end, they point to a gift so wonderful I can't see them as anything but beautiful.
