Even the Sparrows Know
by youth pastor Christina Fischer
Each of these devotional blogs entries is meant to be read on your own or if you have family or friends you live with, to be read together aloud. A suggestion is to do this after you have dinner around the table together. At the conclusion, please spend time in personal reflection or in sharing with one another your answers to the questions at the end. Be sure to conclude with prayer.
Read Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Yesterday, I was sitting on the backyard swing with my dog, Max and heard the loveliest spring sound. The birdhouse behind the swing was emitting the sweetest little chirps. The sound brought joy to my heart. As we sat a little longer, we saw the mom and dad bird fly back and forth bringing food and nest improvements into their wooden house for the new bird family. They fluttered here and there as busy as can be collecting the things that were available to them. Isn’t it amazing how God cares for these small creatures through seeds and grasses to help them care for their young? It seems they don’t have a care in this world.
Watching the news these days seems to breed worry and concern. Story after story that is written and spoken in such a way as to cause alarm in the mind of the listener. The most concerning stories are those sharing the difficulty of many to obtain food for their family and even that we would not have the availability of meat and vegetables this summer due to this global crisis. I don’t know about you, but the thought of not being able to get the things my family needs is disconcerting. We go to the stores and see empty shelves which seems to support the dreary information given to us at every corner.
In the midst of the chaos that is being drilled into our heads at every turn, let us remember that God is in control and He cares deeply for us. Each day will have troubles, but we do not need to allow those troubles to consume us. We can trust that our heavenly Father knows our needs and will help us through these trying times. Just as His eye is on the sparrow, He is watching out for us, too.
Be encouraged by the song Sparrows by Jason Gray
I pray you allow God to carry your burdens and that you will give your worries over to Him. We can trust Him to do just what He said He would in scripture. Let us not waste our days worrying over those things that we have no control over. Praise God for caring for the sparrows and for caring for you.
