S4 E5 - Just Watch the Birds

My youngest daughter loves watching the birds, so my inlaws purchased us a clear birdhouse that mounts to our window for her to watch them eat and nest. As the kids waited for a bird to arrive, they asked what would happen if we ran out of seeds. I told them God would feed them like he does every day, and they responded, "Just like you feed us?" That's right kiddos. 

We need childlike faith. Yes this economy is tough right now, but we should be as free from anxiety as my children are when it comes to what they eat and wear each day. God tells us that if we seek his kingdom first, he will provide for us the things that we need. And to teach that lesson, Jesus also goes to the birds. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?

Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 4 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Thanks for tuning in! 

Spring is really starting to creep up on us, and I am all here for it! Pretty soon we will start getting more sunlight into the evenings, more warm weather, and beautiful blooms beginning to bud and blossom on the still bare from winter trees. One of the biggest signs that spring is upon us has been the return of the favorite animal among our household: the birds. Kylie has always loved birds, and much of our décor has often featured many kinds of birds for each season. That love for our fowl feathered friends has been passed down to each of our children, and particularly to our youngest as of late. For quite literally at least an hour each day, you can find Finley standing up with her little hands and face pressed against one of the windows looking outside for birds. Like a good little bird watcher, she keeps us posted frequently as to her progress. “Where did they go?” she’ll ask while shrugging her shoulders, or a loud squeal or giggle followed by, “Look at the birdy” when she has found one. After recording her cuteness and sharing several videos of her bird watching with our family, my mother and father-in-law decided to step up our game to help their granddaughter. In the mail this week arrived a hummingbird feeder, as well as a clear birdhouse where birds can perch and feed that suctions to a window so you can watch the birds up close. We started with the birdhouse, and we found a window right at Finley’s height to place it. Despite my current strict diet regiment, I didn’t have any bird seed just laying around the house, so I filled it up with some sunflower seeds until I could get to the store. Naturally, all three kids now had their noses pressed up against the glass waiting for the first visitor to flutter in. 

As they waited, my oldest Ava asked me, “What if we run out of seeds? What will the birds eat?” “Well,” I told her, “God provides their food for them. You know how it’s been raining so much, and you’ve seen all the worms on the ground? They eat those, and other insects, and all kinds of things that they can find all over the place.” “Kind of like how you feed us lunch and give us treats and snacks?” my son asked. I chuckled, because I knew that this was his segway to asking for a snack in just a moment. “Just like that son. Just like you guys never have to worry about what’s for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner because your mommy & daddy will always feed you, the birds never have to worry about what they are going to eat either because God takes care of them.” Before I could hardly even finish my sentence, my son chimed back in right on queue – “Hey Dad…can we have uh…uh…can we have a treat?” His face was no longer pressed up against the glass, but instead was turned toward me with squinty eyes and the cheesiest smile you’ve ever seen. “I supposed if the birds can have a snack that you guys can have a snack with them too,” and I started toward the kitchen to scrounge up some kind of treat for the kiddos. After much back and forth, we finally settled on goldfish. 

As I poured out a cheese snack to match the cheesy smile for my son, I couldn’t help but thinking about how much my children and these birds were teaching us about the way in which we ought to have greater faith in our lives. It’s no secret that inflation and the economy have seen much better times than we are currently facing. I saw a statistic recently that said nearly 48% of adults aged 18-30 are still living at home with their parents on account of the extremely high cost of living. Difficult economic times that are accompanied by rising interest rates, rising grocery prices, rising gas prices, rising utility costs, and many other things often result in a rise in anxiety – don’t they? I cannot go a week without hearing someone talking about the cost of living and the pressures it has put on their family or changes that it has forced them to make in their lives. But do you know who is not anxious one bit about any of those things? My children. Why? You might suggest that it is simply because they are too young to understand, and certainly there is some validity to that. But I would suggest that it is much more than that. My children are not concerned because they simply trust that mom & dad will always take care of them. They are not worried about what they are going to eat or wear every day when they get up, because they know that we’ve already got it taken care of, and we always will because we love them. 

It is this kind of childlike faith that Jesus reminds us to have, and to teach that lesson he too will look to the birds. In the middle of his sermon on the mount, Jesus would say the following, “Therefore 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? Consider 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? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

I find these to be perhaps some of the most encouraging words in all the New Testament, because they not only teach us not to worry, but why not to worry. Look at creation, and the way that God cares for even the smallest creatures on this planet – are we not of more value than they are as people made in the image of God? Jesus emphatically tells us that we are. And yet, if God loves them, and provides for them as he does – will not God also do the same for us because of his great love for us? Every day when we get up, we should not be anxious about these things – God knows that we need them, and is willing and ready to provide them for those who seek first his kingdom! Now don’t get it twisted: this passage is not teaching us that we will never have needs. It is not teaching us a gospel of health & wealth. It is not teaching us God is some kind of magic genie that grants our every wish. It is also not teaching us to be negligent and not to plan ahead or be good stewards of what he’s provided for us – far from it. But what it is teaching us to do is to become a little more like children in the way we trust our loving Father. So, the next time you’re feeling anxious about things in your life, walk to your window, press your face up against the glass and look at the birds – it will remind you of the Father’s love and where our focus truly should be. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 4 episode 5 – and I’m so thankful that you decided to tune in today! A new episode is dropped each Friday, so be sure to listen in again next week! Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, as well as share it with someone else – it would help me greatly in trying to reach others. And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.