Sparrows

The January morning started out cold and drizzly and bleak. But to me, it was a beautiful day. It was just days before my birthday, a time which brings up all sorts of wonderful memories—many of which occurred on similarly bleak winter days. On this particular frigid Monday, I was in the middle of praying when God prompted me to look out the window at a cluster of leafless trees, diamond-like raindrops clinging to their spikey gray branches. A sudden quick movement among the bare limbs caught my eye, and I realized there was a tiny gray and brown bird flitting around in the treetop. I don’t really know what species the bird belonged to, but I imagined it was a sparrow. And I was filled with peace as I watched it dart from one branch to another, scrounging for food. The bird was simply being a bird, oblivious to the cold and rain and the pandemic that has bound us all in fear for nearly a year.

I smiled, thinking of the Bible verses about sparrows. Matthew 10: 29-31 says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” The moment was a culmination of weeks of God bringing to mind sparrows. A friend had sent me a link to a video of Audrey Assad’s song “Sparrows” which is based on the classic gospel hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” Cory Asbury’s “Sparrows” was another song God had been using to direct my focus to the deep love and concern expressed in the verses in Matthew. The chorus of his song says:

“You take good care of me.

You know what I need before I even ask a thing.

You hold me in Your hands with a kindness that never ends.

I’m carried in Your love no matter what the future brings.”

I’m grateful not only for these songs which have encouraged me, but especially for the little bird God sent as a tangible reminder of His presence and His provision. I will never cease to be amazed at a love the depths of which I will never truly comprehend.