“Hear, O my people, and I will warn you – if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:8-10
Over the years, we have had a variety of birds build nests and care for their young near the doors of our houses. As we come and go, we watch the bird build the nest, hatch their eggs and feed their young until they are ready to leave the nest. All baby birds have an instinct to open their mouths wide when they are hungry. In fact, some of them even sleep with their mouths wide open. They don’t want to miss the food that mama bird brings to them.
So when I read this Psalm today, I pictured a baby bird in the nest with its mouth wide open waiting to be fed. And I wondered how I am to be like a baby bird? A baby bird can do nothing to take care of itself – except open wide its mouth and wait on its mother to feed it. And the mother and father birds feed all the young in the nest… and feed… and feed… and feed… Soon the baby birds grow up and become mature birds because of all the good food they are getting.
Birds don’t normally feed each other’s young. A Robin doesn’t feed a Cardinal and a Cardinal doesn’t feed a Carolina Wren. Each bird knows just what their young need. So when that little mouth is hanging wide open, mama and papa put in just the right stuff to help their young grow.
When I come before God each day, I wonder how much like a baby bird I am. Am I completely trusting in him as my provider and the one who keeps me safe? Am I looking to him to satisfy my needs? Am I eating what he brings me and maturing in my faith? Or am I looking other places to have my needs met – my spouse? my children? my friends? the government? comfort food? my doctor? All of those people or things have a place in my life, but not to completely satisfy my hunger. Only God can do that. And I will never be satisfied unless I let God fill me.
Do I open my mouth – maybe even sleep with it open – so God can fill me? Or am I distracted by other people and things and try to leave the nest before I am ‘satisfied’ with God’s provision. Will I become the bird that is maturing and flying high or will I be the baby bird sitting on the ground because I fell out of the nest and now am at great risk because of my own foolishness.
This is another beautiful lesson on trusting God. As I spend time reading and studying the Bible (which I believe is his written Word he gave us to help us find our way back to him), and as I meditate on these words, I continue to grow in my trust in him. As I am fed by time in nature, instruction from others who have matured in their faith, and especially by my own time spent with him, I continue to grow in my trust in him. And trust in him brings peace to each day – no matter how difficult or busy the circumstances. I know that he will give me just what I need to be satisfied each day.
Thank you, God, for caring for me so completely and so continuously. Today may I use what you give me to give back to you and to others. Amen.
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