What if God's Little Brown Sparrow Was Actually--Well, More Than a Sparrow?

Last week on our way to a cleaning job, Rose suddenly gasped, "There's an eagle!"
And I braked and turned around, and we got this picture of a real bald eagle on the top of an electric pole!

Wow! That was special!
On our road here on the prairie we often see hawks perched on the roadside poles, but not eagles.

 And of course, we have horned larks, juncos and finches.
When it snows, our austree at the side of the house is a perching place for birds of all kinds, especially sparrows.

But who ever stops their vehicle and turns around just to take a picture of a sparrow??
For much of my life, sparrows have been special to me
ever since one landed on my attic windowsill when I was about 21 years old,
when I was debating about the safety of going on the Bible and gospel distributing trip
to China just after the Beijing massacre.
Just as I was reading,
"Do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows,"
a sparrow landed on that windowsill!


Since then, I've considered myself one of God's little brown sparrows,
and whenever I see sparrows, it reminds me of His constant care.

Recently, though, I've been feeling like God has been asking me to take a look at that thought,

and ask if it's accurate.

Am I really God's little brown sparrow?

Was that what He was saying?

That I am His little brown sparrow while others are His cardinals, peacocks, goldfinches, or orioles?

It's like God's been whispering to  me,
"When My Son talked about the sparrows, He was telling You that the heavenly Father looked out
even for sparrows.

Then He said "How much more..."
He didn't compare us to sparrows; He contrasted us.

If He takes notice of each sparrow that falls to the ground,

will He not much  more notice when we are going through low times?

Does He not notice when we are struggling deeply with a sense of having no value?

If we really  must compare ourselves to birds,
how about deciding what bird we'd really like to be--or what God might like us to be like?
I don't really care to be a peacock or a magpie or a crow or even a cardinal, bright and flashy and beautiful as it is.

But He said that if we waited on Him,
we would mount up on wings like eagles.

That we could find a nest in His house like a swallow (Psalm 84).

That if we believed on His Son, we could gather under His wings 

like chicks under a mother hen.

We can sing to Him like a bluebird that comes singing in the spring,

that builds its nest for its little ones and bravely defends it,

that perches on lonely fence posts and sings its heart out to the glory of its Creator.

So, Jesus,

what if You really valued me so much more than those sparrows out there on our bird feeder?

What if, despite my mistakes, failures, and shortcomings,

You valued my heart the way You said You do?

"Believe it or not, insecurity is not only a warning; it’s also an invitation. When we feel insecure, God is inviting us to escape the danger of false beliefs about who we are, why we’re here, what we should do, and what we’re worth, and to find peaceful refuge in what he says about all those things [emphasis mine]."

"The more we understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we find it is the end of insecurity — not the perfect end in this age, but the increasing and ultimate end. 

• "Have we sinned and sinned greatly? In Christ 'we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins'(Colossians 1:14).
• Do we feel like orphans, strangers, and aliens? In Christ we have been adopted by God to be his children and are now members of his household and heirs of all things with Christ (Ephesians 1:5; 2:19; Romans 8:17).

• Do we feel like miserable failures? In Christ, almost incredibly, every failure will work for an ultimate good.
• Do we feel weak and inadequate? In Christ God loves to choose the weak and foolish things because, when we are weak, he promises that his grace will be sufficient for us — so much so that we can learn to boast in our weaknesses because of how they showcase his strength (1 Corinthians 1:27–31; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10)! 
• 
• Do we feel insignificant and unimportant? In Christ we were chosen by God (John 15:16), who purposefully assigned us a unique and needed function in his body (1 Corinthians 12:18)."
•  
• "...There is an end to insecurity and all the fleshly striving it produces. It ends in Jesus. Let us bring all our insecurities to him and in exchange take his light burden of grace."

• --Jon Bloom from desiringgod.