TAKE IT TO THE CROSS

I’ve had a giant lesson in humility the past four weeks. I witnessed several miracles which changed my perspective. Some of you may know about the little hummingbird who built a tiny nest on a very small cross wind chime hanging on my patio. I have bigger wind chimes hanging there, but she chose the cross. Fascinating to watch, she would bring little bits of things, poke them in place with her beak and then tamp them down with her feet. When the nest was built, about 3 feet from my French doors leading to the patio, she would sit in the nest. I talked to her all the time and she became so tame, she didn’t flinch or move when I opened or closed the patio doors.

She sat there many days and nights, barely moving. Two days ago, two tiny little beaks peeked out of the nest. The Mama now sits on the edge of the nest and tends to her babies. Too little to chirp or fly yet, their little raw pink necks stretch out for her.

Witnessing this, I felt God in the process and I was humbled. Why do I worry so about external things? Why do I fuss and fume and search for answers? God is IN everything! (Proverbs 3:5-6) This little bird selected a tiny cross on which to build her nest. She trusted me, a great big human seated not far from her, to not destroy her nest or cause her harm as she laid her precious little eggs. The lesson here is…take it to the cross! There is no reason to fear life if our foundation is the cross. God is big and we are small, but He will protect our “nests,” our beings, our life if we have even the trust of this tiny little hummingbird, the faith of a mustard seed. (Matthew 17:20)

I have wept watching this little bird trust me enough to build a nest before my very eyes, so close to me, to sit there day after day, unafraid and patient, and then to feed those miniscule little upturned beaks. I know that if God cares for birds such as these, He cares for me so much more. (Philippians 4:19)

In the quiet of my patio, talking gently to this little bird, I am overcome with the love that God has for me, for you, for this little new family of birds, through the cross that He died on to save us. I feel privileged to have witnessed this miracle.

“Look at the birds of the air….and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:2

ALL I NEED

We didn’t have much when I was growing up. Dad sold some corn at rock-bottom prices one December so we could have a meager Christmas. Mom stretched the food dollar as far as she could, supplementing her limited budget with garden-fresh produce in the summer and canned meats, fruits, and veggies in the winter. Chocolate chip cookies and one-scoop banana splits were rare luxuries. But I never felt deprived. We had enough.

I don’t have much now, either. I haven’t won the lottery. I am not (yet) a world-famous published author of renown. I haven’t saved the world from hunger as I planned to do when I was a teenager. I don’t know that I’ve made a difference in the grand scheme of things. But I have enough.

You know how sometimes you think you just need something new to perk you up? You buy something, but it doesn’t satisfy for long. It’s just another thing. At times like these, what we really may be longing for is closeness with someone, a view of fluffy white clouds startlingly lined with vibrant pink, contact with a long-lost friend, or quiet moments with our God. These give us the “filling-up” of our souls that we are really seeking.

It’s oft-times surprising how little we need and yet we always seem to be accumulating “stuff.” I have food, I have water, I have shelter, I have transportation. Most importantly, I have friends, I have family, I have freedom, I have my Lord Jesus Christ. What more do I really need?

God promised that he would always supply our needs. He says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” That promise is limitless. WHATEVER we need, we have only to ask our heavenly Father. In 1 John 3:21 we read, “Dear friends . . . we have confidence before God and receive from him ANYTHING we ask….”

How often have you heard someone say, “God will provide.” Do we take it literally? We need to. God WILL provide all that we need. And his greatest promise to us is to supply everlasting life with him. In 1 John 2:25, we read, “And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.” In Christ, I want for nothing.

“ . . . Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:8b