There’s an unremarkable little bird having a huge dinner in Yaounde right now.
Through my apartment window, I have a great view of the leaves and the fruit of this large papaya tree. The base of the tree is rooted in the corner of the property, but no one ever climbs it to pick the fruit off it. Many, many times in the 6 months I have lived here, I have watched fruit ripen and go to waste, ripen and go to waste, ripen, and go to waste.
This afternoon, I noticed a little bird was perched on the side of the tree trunk, close to an overripe papaya. I watched him with surprise as he dug his little claws into the tree and then leaned his head back from his perch and took a nibble from the fruit. He got a good start and then he hopped from the tree trunk over to the papaya itself and continued his little mini-feast.
In that moment, I was realized how little I know about birds!! Never in my life had I wondered what birds ate! Growing up with the popular American expression, “The early bird gets the worm,” I suppose I just thought they ate worms! But here to my surprise, I found that God, in His goodness, had prepared a whole entire papaya for this little bird.
“This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink;
or about your body, what you will wear.
Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the sky:
They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Aren’t you worth more than they?”
Matthew 6:25-26 (HCSB)
I thought about some worries that have been overtaking my heart today and consuming my time, energy, and strength. Worries about my very unknown future and all it might hold for me. But if the Lord went to all the trouble of giving this little bird his dinner on January 18th, then He is surely capable of taking care of all my needs, too!!
“. . . your Heavenly Father feeds [him].
Aren’t you worth more than [him]?”
