When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth. Psalm 104:30

The Clark’s jays are back again this morning flitting through the trees,  pecking through the fresh snow for their breakfast. They have been coming for several weeks in larger than normal flocks. Stellar jays  add   noisy blue color to the flocks. My husband said they’re feeding on small white moths that have hatched and landed in the driveway gravel. I thought it was pine debris blown by the wind ands floating in the air,  but evidently the jays have found  a bountiful food source.

I watched them from our back window which faces a hillside covered in scrubby bushes, tall, skinny trees and bare earth. It hardly seemed setting for a bird smorgasbord but there were so many birds they swathed the ground. “How do they know”, I wondered, “to come to our property  at this time and where there is  abundant food?”  How do lesser creatures know the  times and seasons for their food supplies? How do they  communicate the location to each other?  I thought of  Jesus’ teaching in Matthew, how the Father provides  for His creatures.

…Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

 In the magnificent  Psalm 104, the psalmist describes God  who not only created all things  in the heavens,  earth and sea, but  praises His tender care for that creation. He writes that creaturely dependence for sustenance is on God alone. All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season. Psalm 104:27

That biblical promise is a recurring theme in both Old and New Testament.

For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance. Job 36:31

He gives food to every creature. His loving devotion endures forever. Psalm 136: 25

When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. Psalm 104:27

These are covenantal, not natural promises.  The writers never fail to acknowledge it is God’s  chesed  or loving kindness and mercy which provides for those with whom He stands as Lord.

 Jesus stands as Lord and Savior for all who call on His Name. His Word that the Father will provide  resounds across the centuries. In these very dark and troubling times, who among us does not worry about tomorrow’s uncertainties.  If not about whether we’ll  have enough to eat – though that may some day come – then we worry about our future security.  If not about what we wear – because our closets are crammed – then  we fret about our comfort or the blessings which are becoming  quickly endangered.  

Our critical spiritual sustenance is the Word of God. We’re to clothe ourselves in Christ’s righteousness, not in the rags of world..  No matter what’s going on around us, Jesus promises the provision of the Father which He has fulfilled.   Therefore, do not fear for what you need today or tomorrow. Look at the birds of the air who visit you. The jays are fed by the Lord. Are you not more valuable than they?