Brandi Boddie: Are You a Birdbrain?

A community of birds live in a tree just outside my bedroom window. There are the sparrows that chirp so sweetly and the starlings that chatter noisily in big numbers. There is an owl that pops in from time to time, but my favorite of all has to be the brown turtledove. Every morning and night it sings up and down the scale with its Hoo-a-hoo-hoo-hooo.

Obviously, I'm not a professional bird-watcher because then I would have given you a better description of these amusing little creatures. But I do like birds. Their different appearances and the unique patterns of their charming voices remind me of how God creatively made each and every one of us. The way birds flit about without a care is how our Lord wants us to be when we put our trust in Him.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:26-27)

Ok, but a bird's got it easy, you might say. A bird doesn't have a mortgage, disobedient children, a bad medical report from the doctor, or staggering debt to pay off. You're right. So what can a bird worry about?

I wonder if the worms are out today.
Are my eggs going to hatch? If so, when?
Where am I going to get food today?
I hope this wind doesn't knock me off the telephone wire.
My hatchlings always expect me to drop food in their mouths. Do they even appreciate what I do for them?
That crow better not get into my feeder again!
I hope I don't smack into a windshield.
Why do those big, wingless creatures always get so mad at me when I fly over their cars?

See how ridiculous that sounds? Birds simply don't have the capacity to think that way. God didn't want them to. However, He gave us incredibly intelligent minds. We can either use them to focus on every fear and worry imaginable, and accomplish nothing. Or we can choose to be like the birds and go about our business with the assurance that God will provide our food, shelter from storms and predators, and a clear path to fly to greater heights.

Do you like to watch birds? If so, what types have you seen in your backyard?