Consider the birds…

Often I am reminded of the importance of listening prayer. I was visiting my parents a year ago and they had an incredible book about healing and listening prayer. I was struck by the wealth and depth of resources God has gifted us with that we seldom tap into. Recently I heard a great podcast episode of Don’t Mom Alone on listening prayer and the transformation it brought into one woman’s life. I made more effort to find some quiet time to listen, but it took creativity. If I woke up early or tried before bed, falling asleep was too much of a temptation. I began asking God to speak to me when I was having quiet moments with my son outside.

So, a few days ago I was practicing this discipline while my son lay on a towel with me, giggling and playing on his own. I silenced the enemy, invited God into the moment and then closed my eyes and waited. In the past, I have experienced God speaking through images or phrases, and my eyes have to be closed. However, there was a lot going on, and I found myself looking around and watching these two robins very close to me. I noticed that one robin was very speckled looking, and that robin followed the other really closely, squawking constantly. I realized this was a baby that was full grown but still needed to be fed and taught how to find his own food.

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The parent bird would wander a bit away and the squawking baby would follow close behind, and as soon as the parent found a worm or other bug, she would zoom back quickly to the baby with the treat. The squawking would intensify and the baby’s mouth was wide open, ready for feeding. This happened several times and the verse just popped into my mind: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to Your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him?” (Matthew 7:11)

So many implications popped into my head immediately.

• I often find myself thinking that God is annoyed with me because I keep asking for the same thing, or even that I have to ask for forgiveness constantly. The baby bird is not afraid of annoying his parent, nor does he seem to doubt that he will get food. He follows out of the firm belief that his parent is going to give him the food, and he keeps asking until he gets it. Over and over again. To me, it seems like the parent bird needs a lot of patience.
  
• That baby bird is sticking to his parent. He knows that is where his help comes from, and he does not look to the right or the left. When that thought went through my mind as I watched, I was struck with a deep longing- oh! I want to stay close to You, Jesus. With that kind of desperation!
  
• Even when that parent bird ducked into the shady rose bush (where I’m sure he found quite a crop of insects), the baby bird confidently followed into the unknown, because his parent will be with him.

In his book Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas talks about the different ways God speaks to us according to how we’re wired and what touches us. He talks about how nature is God’s way of speaking because he teaches us through the millions of analogies available in his creation that he put there for that purpose. Most people connect with God to some degree in nature. When I’m in places of beauty and quiet, I get such a sense of mystery and even romance. It certainly is one of the languages God speaks to me.

I was reminded that there are so many ways that God speaks to his people, and it doesn’t fit into my schedule or plan!

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Matthew 6:26-27