God Provides for the Chickadees (and for us)
The Easter celebration is over for another year. We celebrate the Risen Christ and that He provides us with a way to redemption. He is risen! He is risen indeed.
I wrote about chickadees last week, but something I saw yesterday brought them back to mind.
I looked out at our patio, and a chickadee was busy pulling threads from some burlap around one of the plant pots. Soon, he had so many threads that it looked like the bird had a fuzzy burlap-covered beard.
It was joined by its mate, who did the same thing. They’d fill a beak full of threads, fly away, and quickly return. The nest they are building must be very close.
I wasn’t able to get a photo because of where I was standing and I didn’t want to move for fear of causing them to fly away. Today’s image of a chickadee in a nest is a stock image from the web.
Those chickadees were busy, but not anxious. They were working, but not worrying. They were gathering what they needed from what the Lord had already provided. In this case it was threads from our burlap.
How often do we fail at that very point?
We can become troubled because we do not see everything we think we need for the days ahead. We want the whole answer, the whole supply, and the whole plan laid out before us. Yet so often the Lord provides in smaller portions than we would prefer—not because He is stingy, but because He is teaching us to trust Him.
Our Lord told His disciples to look carefully at creation and learn from it.
That does not mean life is free from labor. The chickadees still had to pull the threads. They still had to carry them. They still had to build. But the materials were there before they ever arrived. What they needed had already been prepared for them.
That is often the way our God works.
Sometimes He provides strength for one day, not ten. Sometimes, He gives wisdom for the next step, not the whole journey. Sometimes, He supplies just enough grace for the present burden, and not a bit more than is necessary. But it is enough, because it comes from His hand.
Israel learned this in the wilderness when manna was given daily:
And Paul rested in that same truth:
“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Perhaps you are in a season of building just now. You may be trying to hold things together in your home, your work, your ministry, or your own weary heart. You may feel that what is in your hands is very small compared with what lies before you.
But do not overlook the threads.
The Lord is not careless with His children. He knows what is needed, and He knows when it is needed. If He sees a chickadee gathering burlap for its nest, He certainly sees His own people and the burdens they carry.
So, receive today’s provision with thanksgiving. Use what He has placed before you. And trust Him for the next thread when it is time.
Be blessed
Kevin
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