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Last week in our back garden my attention was drawn to a baby sparrow and what I assumed to be his mother sitting on our fence. The older bird flew off leaving her young offspring flapping his small wings trying desperately to hold its balance and maybe feeling abandoned. Then from our neighbours’ garden came a sound that I guessed was the mother calling out to the tiny chick, who responded immediately.
As I watched God’s creation caring and protecting its own, I was reminded of something that happened a number of years ago when I lived in Edinburgh. I came home from work one day to discover a frightened baby sparrow fluttering around my dining room desperately trying to find its way out.
As I was unable to catch it myself, I called on Andrew my neighbour who thankfully came to my rescue, but there was no sign of the little bird. After a search of the dining room, Andrew eventually found it under the unit and carefully brought the terrified little bird out.
Before he released the frightened little creature, Andrew held it carefully and lovingly in the palm of his large hand and the tiny bird stopped struggling and relaxed. As I looked at this big man holding this tiny bird, I was reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 10: 29-31
“Not a sparrow falls to the ground, but your Heavenly Father knows about it. Don’t be afraid, you are worth far more than many sparrows.’
Earlier in that same chapter, we read of Jesus sending His chosen disciples out into the world where they would suffer persecution and rejection for being obedient. The disciples could not understand this, but they had to trust God who has a plan for all difficult circumstances.
In these dreadful and dangerous times that we are going through, when we need to show strength and courage, we need Jesus to lead us up the mountain as he did for the frightened disciples telling them that He was sending them out like sheep among wolves. We also need to be reminded why we should not be fearful but trust Him with our lives.
How much we need to hear this message and to know that we can trust God whatever happens.
Max Lucado, explains it like this and I quote.
‘Let the Master lead us up the mountain again and let Him remind us why we should “fear not”, let us remind ourselves how Jesus scattered the butterflies out of the stomachs of his nervous disciples and see how that can help us in these days. Maybe we need to be reminded that the disciples were ordinary men like you and me before they were stained-glass saints in cathedral windows, like us they experienced fear and panic, but their love and devotion to their Master transcended any fear they had and that is why they accomplished some extraordinary things in His Name.’
So here we are in these days holding on tightly to the promise that Jesus gave to His chosen disciples, that we are worth far more to God than many sparrows.
It is so easy at this time when we are isolated from our family and friends that we become filled with many confusing thoughts, but any fears or panic we may have has to be overcome by the truth that we matter to God, that we are His main concern and because of this we have the promise of His comforting Presence with us in our isolation and loneliness; We can draw strength and reassurance that if He cares so much about a tiny sparrow, then how much more does He care about you and me the pinnacle of His creation.
In preparing this, I was reminded that after the Death and Resurrection of their Master, the disciples went into isolation and locked themselves away because they were afraid of the Jews, and in that moment of their fear, Jesus appeared to them with His Peace and Reassurance, so let us take heart that He will do this for each one of us, because He promised to be with us always and in all circumstances.
The third verse of Joy Webb’s beautiful song ‘Share my Yoke’ confirms this for us.
‘When I’m alone and nothing’s getting through to me,
An isolation that increases day by day,
When closest friends can seem a thousand miles away,
It’s then I need to hear Him say.
Share my yoke and find that I am joined with you,
Your slightest movement I shall feel and be there too,
Share my yoke and come the way that I must go,
In our togetherness my peace you’ll know,
The world beholding us will see it so.
We will now listen to this song as sung by Chelmsford Citadel Songsters and take hope and courage from these words as we make them our personal prayer. Click on the crest to start the recording
As I watched God’s creation caring and protecting its own, I was reminded of something that happened a number of years ago when I lived in Edinburgh. I came home from work one day to discover a frightened baby sparrow fluttering around my dining room desperately trying to find its way out.
As I was unable to catch it myself, I called on Andrew my neighbour who thankfully came to my rescue, but there was no sign of the little bird. After a search of the dining room, Andrew eventually found it under the unit and carefully brought the terrified little bird out.
Before he released the frightened little creature, Andrew held it carefully and lovingly in the palm of his large hand and the tiny bird stopped struggling and relaxed. As I looked at this big man holding this tiny bird, I was reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 10: 29-31
“Not a sparrow falls to the ground, but your Heavenly Father knows about it. Don’t be afraid, you are worth far more than many sparrows.’
Earlier in that same chapter, we read of Jesus sending His chosen disciples out into the world where they would suffer persecution and rejection for being obedient. The disciples could not understand this, but they had to trust God who has a plan for all difficult circumstances.
In these dreadful and dangerous times that we are going through, when we need to show strength and courage, we need Jesus to lead us up the mountain as he did for the frightened disciples telling them that He was sending them out like sheep among wolves. We also need to be reminded why we should not be fearful but trust Him with our lives.
How much we need to hear this message and to know that we can trust God whatever happens.
Max Lucado, explains it like this and I quote.
‘Let the Master lead us up the mountain again and let Him remind us why we should “fear not”, let us remind ourselves how Jesus scattered the butterflies out of the stomachs of his nervous disciples and see how that can help us in these days. Maybe we need to be reminded that the disciples were ordinary men like you and me before they were stained-glass saints in cathedral windows, like us they experienced fear and panic, but their love and devotion to their Master transcended any fear they had and that is why they accomplished some extraordinary things in His Name.’
So here we are in these days holding on tightly to the promise that Jesus gave to His chosen disciples, that we are worth far more to God than many sparrows.
It is so easy at this time when we are isolated from our family and friends that we become filled with many confusing thoughts, but any fears or panic we may have has to be overcome by the truth that we matter to God, that we are His main concern and because of this we have the promise of His comforting Presence with us in our isolation and loneliness; We can draw strength and reassurance that if He cares so much about a tiny sparrow, then how much more does He care about you and me the pinnacle of His creation.
In preparing this, I was reminded that after the Death and Resurrection of their Master, the disciples went into isolation and locked themselves away because they were afraid of the Jews, and in that moment of their fear, Jesus appeared to them with His Peace and Reassurance, so let us take heart that He will do this for each one of us, because He promised to be with us always and in all circumstances.
The third verse of Joy Webb’s beautiful song ‘Share my Yoke’ confirms this for us.
‘When I’m alone and nothing’s getting through to me,
An isolation that increases day by day,
When closest friends can seem a thousand miles away,
It’s then I need to hear Him say.
Share my yoke and find that I am joined with you,
Your slightest movement I shall feel and be there too,
Share my yoke and come the way that I must go,
In our togetherness my peace you’ll know,
The world beholding us will see it so.
We will now listen to this song as sung by Chelmsford Citadel Songsters and take hope and courage from these words as we make them our personal prayer. Click on the crest to start the recording
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‘When I’m alone and nothing’s getting through to me,
An isolation that increases day by day, When closest friends can seem a thousand miles away, It’s then I need to hear Him say. Share my yoke and find that I am joined with you, Your slightest movement I shall feel and be there too, Share my yoke and come the way that I must go, In our togetherness my peace you’ll know, The world beholding us will see it so. |