by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

The thicket bristled with thorns and brown tangled vines. It was thick. Chaotic in appearance. Lying dormant as its brown cloak waited for the greens of spring.

But then I noticed something extraordinary. 

A small flock of sparrows took delight in hopping from one fruitless stem to another. Their tiny wings spread as they made giant leaps across the barren domain. Their chatter delighted me and filled the air with songs of praise.

Faithful. My God is faithful, I thought.

I thought of the sparrow, seemingly so insignificant and yet cared for by our heavenly Father. He knows when the sparrow falls. The sparrows neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet the Lord feeds them, meeting their most urgent needs.

They flit from barren branch to barren branch and still they sing, for they know the One who loves them and Who will never cease to care for them.

Can’t I do the same? Can you? Can we learn to trust Him with total abandon? How much more value do we have to our Father than the sparrow? How much more are we loved?

In the seasons of barrenness or dormancy, those seasons when the sun refuses to shine, think on the sparrows. For just as His eye is on the sparrow, I know He watches over you and me.

“Look at the birds of the air, 
for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; 
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 
Are you not of more value than they?…

“Therefore do not worry, saying, 
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ 
or ‘What shall we wear?’ 
for after all these things the Gentiles seek. 
For your heavenly Father knows 
that you need all these things. 
But seek first the kingdom of God 
and His righteousness, 
and all these things shall be added unto you.

 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 
for tomorrow will worry about its own things. 

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” 
~ Matthew 6:26,31-34 

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

~#~