At the end of April and the beginning of May it was a pleasure to awaken to the sound of birds singing in the morning. Even before the sun comes up they announce the dawn of a new day. What a delight!
Jesus pointed to the birds as signs of God’s love and care when people were worried about the future. In Matthew 6:26 he said, “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?” In Matthew 10:29 he said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Even the hairs of your head are numbered. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
I will confess to watching too many news shows and “talking heads” on TV who seem to believe this nation is going downhill fast. And I read too many critics of the church who can only point to the things with which they disagree and the places where some church leader or another has failed. It gets downright depressing at times.
But then I step outside early in the morning and listen to the birds sing and see the green grass and the first flowers of spring and think about the comforting verses of scripture. In Luke 11:32 Jesus said, “have no fear, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Romans 8:31 says, “if God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?”
And yet there are some terrifying forces in this world and some truly scary things that happen. When the storm clouds gather, then I think of those passages where God promises protection and help. Isaiah 40:31, for instance, says, “but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” What a powerful promise that is for the weary and worried.
It is easy to be negative and even easier to initiate a conversation about how bad things are in the nation or in the church. But God does not want us to live our whole lives under a cloud of worry and suspicion. Remember the word of the Lord. Look at the birds and hear their songs. The sun is going to shine, if not today, then tomorrow.