Recently, I noticed that our dog, Clemmy, was very interested in something in the backyard. Going out to investigate, I saw she’d discovered a baby bird. It was very much alive but evidently had fallen out of the nest while it was too young to fly.
I gently picked the tiny, fragile creature up and placed it on some paper towel in a deep bowl. Then, figuring it might be hungry, I put some suet on a stick and offered it food. I’d seen some adult birds eating this. It didn’t open its mouth. I tried gently shaking the container, hoping to simulate a mother bird landing, to no avail.
My heart went out to the little creature, but I realized there was little I could do. It was frightened of me. The nest was doubtless very high in the tree—I couldn’t even see it. No way could I climb and return it to the nest. So, I put it in a big planter and covered it with leaves. Maybe the mom would find it? I could only hope.
It made me think. I didn’t know this little bird. I hadn’t seen it hatched; I didn’t really know where the nest was; I certainly didn’t make the bird. But, I did care. I was gentle and did the best I could, even if I couldn’t do much.
Remember how Jesus tells us that God cares for the birds? Probably more than we do because He made them! He says that we are more valuable than they. He should know. He made us. And He knows us, knows where we live, and even saw us “hatch”. Check out Psalm 139.
I wanted to provide for the chick. I couldn’t. I wanted to keep it safe. I couldn’t. But this is the good news about us. God can. He can provide; He can keep us safe; He is in charge. And He loves us much more than we can imagine.
Right now, life is changing for me. Again. Therefore, I am so grateful for the Lord’s graphic illustration of Matthew 6:25-27.
“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
When we are tempted to be anxious, remember that life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Remember that the Lord takes care of the birds and we are worth way more than they are. Remember that He is in charge and He can.