Birds

Birds (by Tim Klink of Prison Discipleship Ministry)

Matthew 6:26

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”

Have you ever stopped for a moment and considered the birds that you see? We have a bird feeder just outside of our kitchen window, and as we eat breakfast, my wife and I like to watch the birds. They sit in the bush and watch anxiously as I put feed in the feeder so they know the food is being provided by me, yet when I make a move inside the window, they fly away. I’ve noticed that is the way we often act when God is bringing something of His will and plan for our lives to us. We tend to want to run away.

As the birds gather at the feeder, there is always one who wants it all, and pecks at the others to drive them away. There is more than enough for all of them, yet what seems like a “me first” attitude continues. How we see this in todays world more and more. Serving others first isn’t present in the world of birds, and too often in our world too.

There are bird houses in our yard also, and when the birds are busy getting them ready for the new arrivals, I’ve never heard them complaining that there is a lack of weeds or twigs to line the inside with a nest. They simply go about what they know needs to be done, expecting God to provide for them in due season. Now I realize why God created so many weeds in my garden.

As the birds gather at times on the garage roof, looking over the yard with their houses and feeder, I never hear them talking about their savings accounts, or the stocks they have. Their trust is a simple trust in the Lord providing all things.

But it is in the early morning hours that their song is heard so sweetly proclaiming praise to the One who so greatly cares for them. In the stillness of the morning it is their voice that is the strongest.

Psalm 143:8

“Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee.”