Look at the Birds

Then Jesus is all like,

"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?"

"Look at the birds of the air?" I mumbled sarcastically.

 It was a hard month at work. The type of month that proves to you that you're not doing what God called you to do. There's no other way of explaining it than that.

So I looked at the birds... I watched them for a couple hours, hoping to find anything that could give me hope.

I stopped and stared. "These stupid geese!" I said in utter frustration. "They don't do anything! All they do is eat grass, poop, and float in a pond all day!"

And that was it wasn't it? I was working so hard. There was stress and sweat and anxiety. I felt worthy of my pay... But these birds? They didn't earn a thing. They ate what God provided.

Sitting back on the grass I realized my problem: I wanted the birds life but I couldn't have it. I was bitter and jealous and I couldn't have it... Because you don't get the birds life by working harder for it. You get the birds life by receiving the gifts that God provides exactly when He provides them.

I'll just be honest..it's been hard for my intellect to receive that. Deep down I know it's true... and every time I watch the geese, I see it again and I believe.

Someone I think who gets it is my Grandmum... I have never met a more peace loving person in my life. She lives in a tiny apartment by herself. I have seen elderly women in similar scenarios become bitter and difficult... but not her. No, she is just the most thankful, grace-filled person that I have ever met. You can hear it in the way she talks about her life. She knows it's all been a wonderful gift. She doesn't claim to have sown or reaped or stored... She doesn't act like she's earned it. She has joy because her entire life was a love gift straight from Jesus... And it continues to be that even now.

She's like the geese. And as I go through life, I'm learning to trust God more. I'm learning to trust Him with the deep things and the heavy things. I'm learning to trust that He'll provide.