So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows
AM Psalm 119:1-24 • PM Psalm 12, 13, 14
Jer. 37:3-21 • 1 Cor. 14:13-25 • Matt. 10:24-33
I am only a little sparrow,
A bird of low degree,
But I know that the Father loves me.
Dost thou know His love for thee?
This is part of the “Sparrow Poem” by James Hastings. This one stanza says so much to us. Sparrows have many difficulties in life. They certainly are not on the top of the food chain. They are eaten. Blue Jays and magpies love to eat the sparrow’s eggs. They are a tiny bird that most people don’t even notice. But Jesus is telling us in Matthew today that God notices the sparrow and if He notices the sparrow does He surely not notice us?
Jesus tells us “have no fear.” That is really hard to do when you receive a devastating diagnosis. When you are terminated from anything that has given joy and/or given us an income. When you lose a loved one. The “whens” could go on. But here’s the thing, Jesus doesn’t say that God is going to wave a magic wand and make our woes disappear. What He does say is that God sees you! God knows what we are going through and He is there. He sees us.
“So do not be afraid; you are of more value that many sparrows.” When we feel like the little sparrow, too small to be seen and of no significance, we remember what Jesus said next, God has counted all the hairs on your head. We like the sparrow do not fall to the ground out of God’s notice. And of course, Jesus always gives us the answer to “How do I do this?” “Jesus, how do I not fear those people out there who would hurt us; those things out there that seem to get the best of us; those calamities and diseases that would destroy us and our loved ones. How do we do it, Jesus?”
We acknowledge Jesus and He acknowledges us before God. We do that by trusting Jesus. We do that by leaning into God’s presence. We do it by acknowledging that God really does know every hair on our head. We acknowledge that God knows our “sitting down and our rising up” (ps. 139). And we TRUST in that. We hang on to it with all our might. We pray, we talk, we laugh, we cry and we do this all in relationship with God. We know that we are loved. When you trust someone you can tell them everything. Do you tell God everything? “Dost thou know His love for thee?”
Written by Chris Schaefer
Trusting with all might on a daily basis! Because I know that “you are familiar with all my ways.” And I love that! In fact I count on that.