One afternoon when taking a break from work, as I stepped into my backyard, I couldn’t help being inundated by the brilliance of the sounds that filled the air. The din of everyday life noises (automobiles on streets, computers buzzing, television commentary etc) were drowned by the sonnets and melody of the birds chirping and singing. I must admit, I did not quite understand what they were singing, suffice it to say, that it was harmony in my ears as my mind started to transcend into the beauty of God’s creation. As I strode further into the backyard, I noticed a couple of sparrows on a tree and every step closer to them, got them more and more flustered, dawning in me the realization that there was their nest (home) in the tree they were perched. I could not tell if the nest had their eggs or young. Their singing had rapidly changed and I speculate that their loud vocalizations either meant that they were calling for help perceiving me to be a threat and they were sending me a warning signal that I dare not venture into their territory. I continued walking toward their nest and now, I had one of the sparrow do what I felt was a kamikaze dive toward my head, followed by its partner. They clearly did not want me there and were willing to defend their nest with their very lives, should there be a need to. I first ducked to avoid the sparrows and then was filled with awe and respect for the bravery of these little birds that barely would have filled the size of my fist.

Another day as I was driving on the highway, I noticed a bird of prey, probably a red tailed hawk (a Texas Bird of prey) soaring in circles in the air, almost as if it was seeking to zone in on a target. As I observed the bird, I was overcome with an emotional response, as I recounted of God’s promise to provide for that bird’s daily bread, and my eyes welled up, streaming my cheeks with a deluge of tears.

Jesus said, Look at the Birds of the Air … (NASB: Matthew 6:26). Ever wonder why he would have said this? As I delved deeper into my experiences, I found to my surprise certain truths come to surface. There is so much depth in the statement “Look at the Birds of the Air …” that one can miss on perfunctorily review.

  1. First one is obvious from the verse. Jesus said this to reflect that God the Father is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. Just as the birds are provided for, so will we be.
  2. Secondly, when no danger was around, the birds were singing continuously, drowning the voices of the world. Our continuous praising of God will be harmony in someone else’s ears drowning the cares of the world for them or our own. When danger was around, they either called for help or were willing to ward off their danger, by vocalizing threats. This is exactly what God wants us to do, call to Him for help and be willing to voice our stand resisting (quoting the scriptures). The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
  3. Thirdly, not only did the sparrows vocalize, but they also acted and were willing to take me, an individual more than 100 times their size, on for a fight. The hidden truth is that the size of our problems does not matter. Just as David, a little shepherd boy took on the trained-for-battle giant Goliath, so should we be willing to take on our problem/giants in our lives. The sparrows surely had the same Holy Spirit in them that was in David and that which is in us, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
  4. Fourthly and finally, the flying hawk brought to attention another distinctive principle that expands on the provisionary attribute of God the Father. While it is true that God will take care of the birds of the air, you don’t see birds perched on trees, expecting God to drop their food in their mouths. While this is not impossible for God, this is not the way God provides. The birds fly in search of food a.k.a. they work toward finding the provisions God has in store for them. Likewise, we cannot sit and idle and expect God to provide. We need to work toward seeking the provisions God has in store for us. For the first time, the adage, “God will help those who help themselves” made sense to me. Another noteworthy addition is that God takes care of the birds just as he does us, daily, not tomorrow, not next month, not next year or the next decade.

So next time, we look at the birds of the air, are we willing to realize that God is our provider; we need to continuously keep praising God as that could drown some of the noises in someone else’s life or our own; we should call to God for help and resist; we should stand and fight irrespective of how insurmountable our problem may seem; we should work toward seeking God’s provisions daily, one day at a time. Look at the birds of the air …