We had yet another unexpected snow over the weekend. The collection of winter birds flocked around our feeder like an all-you-can-eat buffet, some waiting patiently on the railing, others pushing their way past the meek to the head of the line.
Later at suppertime, as my husband Bill went to slice some bread to accompany our soup, he realized that the bread had begun to mold. Before he tossed it in the trash, he said out loud, "I wonder if the birds would enjoy it." He broke the loaf into big pieces and lay them on the railing near the feeder.
The next morning with its twenty skinny little degrees, as he looked out, the bread was still untouched. A dove landed on the railing, waiting for its turn at the feeder, snuggling up to one of the chunks of bread, perhaps thinking it was another bird.
Throughout the entire day, I witnessed just one lone blue jay pecking at the bread. The others continued to ignore it completely, their eyes only on the tube of seeds.
If those birds only knew, they wouldn't be so hungry. A feast was just waiting right next to them on the railing.
How often have we ignored how God provides for us in unusual and unlikely ways. We scramble for tiny seeds in our own myopic view when he has provided so much more. Indeed, the word provision does not just mean a random supply, but as the word implies pro-vision: for the vision. Not just filling an obvious need, but preparing for what is to come. Even in ways we have not even considered or realized our need.
Indeed when the Israelites were traveling on their 40-year trek, God provided daily food that appeared every morning. They called it manna, which literally means what is it?
Decades ago, I was traveling overseas with a group of college students through some rural places. Once in a very rustic campground in the Russian countryside, I held my nose as I entered the rather primitive bathroom to brush my teeth. It smelled horribly. As I was turning on the water, I accidentally dropped my toothbrush on the floor which was covered with unimaginable filth. As I stood there speechless, a traveling companion next to me chuckled, "Oh, so that's why." She said that for all these weeks, she had been carrying an extra toothbrush that her mom had slipped in her bag. "I was wondering why I had more than I needed. It was for you all along."
A tool in her toolbox she didn't know what it was for.
God is faithful even beyond our expectations. He guides, and He provides not just for now, but for the next. God gives us our daily bread, not just for us, but to enlarge His blessing on others. Sometimes in unusual packages. Sometimes not what we expect....or even see as a provision. What is this? To sustain, to prepare and provide, to serve others in unlikely ways, and to seek the welfare of those all around us. Open the eyes of my heart, O LORD.
What do I do with this? Give thanks for the unexpected. And trust Him in it.
... God, who richly provides us
with everything to enjoy.
They are to do good,
to be rich in good works,
to be generous
and ready to share...
1 Timothy 6. 17-18
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