Two Sparrows

Psalm 84:3 – Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young — a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. (NIV)

Job 38:41 – Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for the lack of food? (NIV)

Every day, we enjoy the beauties of nature from our deck overlooking the Westport Pond and beyond it, Foley "Mountain". We watch God's creatures and note especially how they care for family: On the pond a string of mergansers, with the mother (or is it the father?) leading a string of babies, with the mate bringing up the rear like a caboose, then breaking up the formation to start diving lessons. A mother robin feeding her voracious young in her nest above our door. Turtles digging into the embankment to prepare homes for the next generation. A pair of rabbits, the female digging a home out of the embankment, then lining it with grass while the male keeps watch — then proudly showing off six, seven, eight — we lose count — tiny bundles of fur — on Mother's Day! A mother groundhog carrying her babies in her mouth from one threatened home to a hopefully safer one. A doe keeping watch over two lively fawns in the adjacent field. The list goes on.

But one day, we witnessed something that we could scarcely believe. An evidently ailing robin was huddled on a place where an angled fence post joined a vertical one. And the robin was being fed… by a grackle!

Three times the black bird flew in and put something into the gaping mouth of the robin!

We are not students of the habits of birds, and perhaps those who are could tell us that this is not so unusual. To us, it was a reminder of how God has cared for us over the years, how He has done so sometimes in the most unexpected ways, through the most unexpected people.

Matthew 10:29 – Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (NIV)

Another thought: Does God occasionally give us a glimpse of what life was like in the Garden of Eden before man's disobedience, and will be again when Christ returns, when "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child shall lead them"? (Isaiah 11:6 NIV)

Prayer: Lord God and heavenly Father, we are amazed and humbled as we see the variety, the wisdom, and the examples of Your caring that You have built into your creation, letting us know that we are "worth more than many sparrows" to You. We look forward to Christ's return, when Your world will be restored to the Eden it was meant to be. In His holy name, we pray. Amen.

Forward this devotional     Share this devotional on Facebook     Like PresbyCan on Facebook