It's for the Birds: The Providence of God 4

I hear that they can be jerks, but I really like blue jays. There was a blue jay on the tree outside my front window recently. It was very cold outside, one of those late winter mornings where the mercury is well below zero as the sun rises. The jay was puffed out as it sat on the branch trying to stay warm. Its regular sleek shape was transformed into something that looked more like a stout chicken. As I enjoyed the beauty of its light blue feathers contrasting with its black eyes and beak, I couldn’t help wondering how it survived. Our winters are so cold. So very cold. These jays have to fly through that frigid air to get anywhere they’re going, and when they land, they only have their bootless, delicate feet to hold onto the branches on which they alight or to hop around on the snow they peck through for seed.

How do they survive? They are so small. Shouldn’t they freeze in just a few minutes? I know that many of these blue jays migrate for the winter. But the one outside my window, whether it stayed since fall or is just arriving back, is in the freezing cold. It should be dead. I would be. But it isn’t; it’s very alive. It flew off after a minute to who-knows-where to live another day. It would go and fly away, find food, stay warm, and when spring comes, find a mate and make the next generation of jays. I’ll never know how it does this, but I know it doesn’t do this alone. This tiny, fragile creature stays alive because it is under the eye of it’s generous maker. 

Jesus had obviously spent some time birdwatching. He didn’t have blue jays to enjoy, but he did have ravens. He thought about these ravens, and he wanted his disciples to think about them too, because the ravens told us something about Christ’s Father. Jesus said, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” (Luke 12:24). Jesus watched the birds, but he cared about you and me. He believed there was something about my blue jays and his ravens we needed to see.

First, he wanted us to see how fragile these creatures are. Even though they have the freedom to fly, which would be the envy of mankind for thousands of years, birds are not great at much else (except singing). About the basic need to eat, without which all things die, they can do almost nothing. They can’t plant seeds. They can’t water crops. They can’t preserve a harvest. Whatever they eat today, they need to find today. This makes life very momentary for them. They have tremendous ability to escape predators, but they can’t escape their constant need to feed. They are needy, fragile. 

Second, Jesus wanted us to see the unseen. There is an invisible zookeeper busily running the animal kingdom. This unseen zoologist creates, sustains and rules over the deaths of all living things on this globe. The psalmist even goes so far as to say that, “The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God” (Psalm 104:21) God feeds the lions, and he feeds the birds. The human mind cannot keep up with all the ways he does it: some hidden seeds here, a grub squirming under bark there; a bright red berry here, a crunchy bug caught on the wing there. But Jesus insists that the raven don’t simply find their food by accident. God feeds them. It’s invisible, but it’s intentional. It’s outside our control, but it’s still orchestrated. The Father uses his wisdom and power to provide. God sees to it with his providential strength that his creatures are cared for. Every beakful that ever fed that blue jay I saw that morning was something for which it ought to tweet ‘thank you,’ and something I can give thanks for as well.

Third, as much as we should marvel that God cares for and feeds his creatures, we should know he cares for his children much more. Jesus says we’re much more valuable than the ravens. Caring for us isn’t just something God does because it is his duty as our creator, and it’s not simply a task of pity performed by a merciful sustainer. The children of God have great value to him. He doesn’t do anything lightly or thoughtlessly with us. He considers all our ways (Proverbs 5:21), has promised to meet all our needs as we serve him (Matt 6:33), and has even gives us blessings for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). But it is easy for us to still believe we’re on our own. We are not. We are meant to look at the birds, see they’re daily neediness, perceive God’s constant provision for them, and then worship the Father’s unending, faithful care for us. Praise him!