"What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows." (NLT)
It’s sparrow time in Big Bear. The custodians hate them; I love them. But regardless, they often try to take over the school I work at with their mud nests, tucking them up in the beams of the porch overhangs. This year, I must have seven nests over the ramp to my classroom door. Rather than single nests, it looks like bird apartment buildings! The sparrows flit and fly around, sometimes trying to dive bomb the students or staff as they walk across the asphalt bus lines between the portable classrooms (where I am) and the main building.
One of the things I’m always impressed about the sparrows is how small they are. Two or more would fit into the palm of your hand. And when one of their eggs falls out of the nest onto the ground, they are tiny, like the size of a large jelly bean. Luke tells us that the price of sparrows in his day was five for a few pennies. Very small in size. Very small in value.
"Yet God does not forget a single one of them."
Our God isn’t too big not to be concerned about even the smallest of our problems, the tiniest hurt, the most inconsequential worry.
Right now I have friends with problems. To all of us, our problems seem immense, consuming, even overwhelming. Objectively compared, it may be that some problems are larger than others. But that never matters. A problem is like a splinter. One splinter may be smaller than another, but they all hurt; they all nag at our core and cause us to focus on that which is other than the Lord’s beautiful face.
The Father knows what concerns us and He is already working it out for us. As Christians, we often forget that we live win-win lives. We cannot lose! He has promised "everything work(s) together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans 8:28 NLT). Thus, as hard as the situation is we find ourselves in, as much pain as we are experiencing, as complicated as the circumstances are, He is working all of it for our good.
What then should be our response? Our first response should be prayer, prayer, and more prayer. 1n 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Paul admonishes us to pray without stopping. And in v. 17, "in everything, give thanks." So, before, in the midst, and after whatever it is that consumes us, we are to pray. Pray, intercede, give thanks. First and foremost, always, pray.
Secondly, we should then make every effort to live the fruit of the Holy Spirit: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
What I’m learning about the fruit of the Spirit is that there is no self-protection listed here. Living the fruit of the Spirit is risky. It puts us out there, in harm’s way, allowing others to possibly take advantage of us, to hurt us. But what happens–and this is the amazing spiritual truth–that when we put God in control and live the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, He becomes our protector, working out the situation in His power and wisdom for our good! And to be honest, I’d far rather have the Lord protecting me than me trying to protect myself. I’m not very good at it, but He is my shield, my banner: Jehovah-Nissi. And what is also amazing is that, as I live out the fruit of the Spirit, many situations defuse. Because when you get two people trying to protect and defend themselves, all that happens is chaos and hurt. But when you reach out in love, in patience, in kindness, in gentleness, the problems that existed begin to diminish.
Father, help me today to live your fruit in my life and to trust you to take care of the problems that face me, whatever their size or intensity. Your solutions are always far better than mine!
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
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