Look at the Birds

Every morning, I sit in the sunroom with my Bible, a cup of coffee, and an open conversation with God. It's become my sacred place.

I watch the wildlife in my backyard, especially the birds. They've fascinated me since I was a teenager. Somehow, God has always used them to teach me lessons that my heart needed to hear.

Most mornings, a Great White Egret stops by for a visit and walks right up to my sliding glass door. I've named her Angel. Her feathers are brilliant white, and every time she appears, it feels like a quiet gift from heaven.

I've also watched a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks build a nest in a nearby tree. Soon they had babies. Five of them eventually found their way into my backyard, awkwardly splashing through the pool water, stumbling over their oversized feet, and making clumsy attempts to fly.

Day after day, I watched them grow stronger. Their wobbly steps became confident strides. Their uncertain flapping turned into soaring. Eventually, they were gliding through the sky with a freedom that made it hard to believe they were the same little birds I had first observed.

As beautiful as it was to watch them grow, something else was unfolding at the very same time.

My own life felt like it was coming apart.

This has been a season filled with uncertainty. The dreams I've held for years have had to be surrendered. My carefully constructed plans unraveled. Doors I believed God had opened unexpectedly closed. Financial pressures mounted, and more than once I've wondered how everything was going to work out.

I'd lay my worries at God's feet in prayer...only to pick them back up a few moments later. I'd surrender them...then reclaim them. It became a cycle that left me emotionally exhausted.

And for a while, God seemed silent.

Still, I kept opening His Word, which led me to the book of Matthew:

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule. You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. (Matthew 5:3-4, MSG)

Those verses quieted my anxious heart. Then I turned the page.

Look at the birds... free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. (Matthew 6:26, MSG)

Careless in the care of God…I couldn't get those words out of my mind.

Not because the birds have no challenges. Not because storms don't come. Not because they never struggle. But because they were never designed to carry tomorrow. God does that.

A few verses later came these words:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (Matthew 6:34, MSG)

I realized something in that moment.

God hadn't changed my circumstances. He had changed where I was looking.

Instead of staring at all the uncertainty ahead, He gently redirected my gaze to the birds outside my window. Every one of them was a living reminder that the same God who faithfully cares for them has not forgotten me.

Or you.

I'm still walking through this season. I don't know exactly how every chapter will unfold. I don't know which doors God will open or when. But I do know this: He has never stopped being faithful.

He's still working behind the scenes, even when I can't see Him. He's still writing the story, even when I can't understand the plot. He's still asking me to trust Him one day at a time.

Maybe that's where you find yourself today. Perhaps you're unemployed. Maybe your finances feel overwhelming. Maybe you're caring for a loved one. Maybe you're waiting for a diagnosis, grieving a loss, or wondering if God hears your prayers at all.

If so, can we choose something together?

Let's stop measuring the size of our mountains and start measuring the greatness of our God.

The mountains may be real. But our God is immeasurably greater.

So, tomorrow morning, when you can’t quiet the "what ifs," step outside for just a moment. Look at the birds, and remember whose hands they're in.

And remember whose hands you're in…the same everlasting hands of God.

Matthew 6:26 | Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God.

Wanna pray?

Father, when fear begins to shout louder than our faith, quiet our hearts with the truth of Your Word. Teach us to look beyond our circumstances and fix our eyes on You. When we’ve exhausted our own strength, remind us that Your strength has never been limited. Help us trust You with today's burdens instead of borrowing tomorrow's worries. Fill us with Your perfect peace, steady our hearts, and help us choose faith over fear, one day at a time.