Matthew 6:26
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?
We are living in an unusual time. Some days it seems to me like a bad reality show. Some days I struggle with anxiety.
There are moments, though, when I catch a glimpse of the bigger picture – a God’s eye view, so to speak.
Like this virus, God is not contained by the arbitrary lines we draw between countries. He doesn’t favor one over the other because we are all created in His image. Regardless of what is happening around us, the Creator remains the same. His creation is always in our view, always at our fingertips, to remind us that rebirth is part of His continual plan. Regardless of what is happening here – earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, or even viruses – He brings resurrection. Spring still comes. Flowers bloom. Birds sing. Babies are born.
I love nature. It is where I most easily connect with God. I normally enjoy all the things that signal the changing of the seasons.
I’ll admit, however, that this year I have to be more intentional about noticing these things and appreciating them.
I have to choose to find joy in the little purple crocus popping up through the ground. I think about the fact that these were bulbs I planted several years ago, and yet I can count on them to pop back up to announce that the dark days of winter are almost over. Then, I remind myself that God is even more faithful.
I hear the birds singing and make myself focus on the words in Matthew six, “Look at the birds of the air… Are you not much more valuable?”
I remind myself of the words of Rachel Carson: “There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night and Spring after Winter.”
I keep looking for what I can learn about God, about loving my neighbor, and about myself in this challenging and unique time.
Our Easter celebrations will be different this year, but I’m wondering if, in some ways, they may be more profound, richer. Maybe we’ll connect less intellectually and more emotionally with the women and the disciples in those three dark days when hope seemed distant, if not lost. Maybe we’ll grasp more deeply their confusion, their fear, their grief, and their joy that followed when the dark days were over when the knowledge of a risen Jesus restored their hope. I hope the weirdness of this year’s Easter will stretch me and grow me and connect me more with the risen Savior than any celebration ever has. This is my prayer – for me, and for you.
Daily Prayer
God, you are the creator who never changes. Help us see you in the small signs of hope all around us. May we be grateful and reminded of the ways you renew us each day and each season. As we navigate a ‘different’ Lent, we ask you to deepen our appreciation of Easter. Amen
Debbie Fuller and her husband, Rocky are long time Commonway members and Yorktown natives. Debbie serves on Commonway’s ministry, women’s, and missions teams. She loves learning, reading, being outdoors, and spending time with her family.
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