Dear Church, God loves to speak to us through nature.

I know I have mentioned my morning prayer walks with you, and they're so great. I ask God to show me His mercies and to refresh my soul. One Tuesday morning however, I woke up kind of grumpy. It was a hard Monday night; I did not sleep well and definitely did not want to walk—but knew I should. I slumped out of bed, put on my sneakers, and went out and didn’t invite God into my walk like I do every morning… Providentially for me, God walked with me anyway, and He showed up at just the right moment.

I saw this tiny, tiny bird in front of a huge puddle. In my perspective, I could see many ways the bird could’ve gotten through, flown over, or walked around it. But instead, the tiny bird just stood there staring at the puddle… and then, bam! It jumped in the puddle and started splashing around having the time of its life.

I immediately started laughing, thinking to myself, go baby bird, go! And in my laughter felt like God was telling me, “I know you’re trying to get through the obstacle, but every obstacle is also an opportunity to experience My joy, peace, and hope because I see the bigger picture and I am making a way. So, trust me, even here. Especially here.” Oh, how I love to see His character come alive through creation. Like this baby bird, sometimes we may feel so teenie tiny in comparison to the large puddle in front of us. There will be moments where God will tell us the way through, around, over or under a situation—but at all times, while we wait for Him to speak, we can experience joy, peace and hope through Jesus Christ.

After sharing this God sighting with our staff, one of them asked me if it was a sparrow based on the description I gave. After using my good friend Google, I realized that indeed it was! And it brought us to think about the song lyrics, "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." 

And Jesus’ words in Matthew 6: “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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I am praying that you experience the joy, peace, and hope of Jesus as you look upon whatever “puddle” is in front of you, knowing that even there, especially there, He is making a way.

How have you seen God’s character displayed in creation recently?

Love,

Audrey