I live in North Carolina and yes I have seen my share of disasters. The last being Hurricane Dorian which recently came close to our shores and actually made landfall in the Outer Banks. I lived through Hurricane Florence which devastated my home. I am not saying this to ask for pity for what I have been through, but to make a very important point. Each one of us put a lot into what we own, when in fact we really don’t own anything. We believe that we worked hard for our possessions, but we were only given the things as gifts from God. I thought the same thing for many years, I would go to work, meander throughout the day so that I can earn money to buy more stuff, but you know what it isn’t really about the stuff that we get, it is about the love we have for each other. This is what makes us individuals.

I can sympathize with most of you, because when Hurricane Florence damaged me, it took everything to try to rebuild. I am not only talking about rebuilding my home and replacing possessions, that was only part of it, but it took time for me to rebuild my heart. A lot of what I had been building was taken away from me within minutes. But I picked up the pieces and began building. Do you know how I did this, it was because my love for God outweighed my love for anything. I know what you may be thinking is He going to try to make us feel better by telling of God’s love. You may be right because there is so much of it to go around. It is there to help us along life’s path.

Every morning after the Hurricane Florence’s catastrophic event, this bird or one much like him would come to the bedroom window and he would wake me up by tapping on the window. At first I thought that he was doing it to tease the cat, but even when the cat wasn’t in the bedroom, without fail this bird would tap on the window. After he knew we were up, he would sit on the branch and sing. While he was singing, so were all the other birds. They would sing from the time the sun came up until it’s setting. It was always such a lovely song that was sang and it would go on for long periods of the day.

From my dining room window I would always see the birds gather together to eat from off the ground. I am not a avid bird watcher by any means. But to see this daily, made me truly take a look at God’s provisions for me. The Scripture is found in Matthew 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” God began to show me that I am more valuable to Him because He loves me and with that love comes favor in abundance. He didn’t bring the storm against me, the devil did that, but when the devil does something to hurt me, don’t you know God always has my back. When storms come go He always makes a way for me to survive.

What Does God Say About The Sparrow?

Why does God use the sparrow in His scriptures to make us understand? “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. … (Matthew 6:25-34) Why does God use the sparrow in His scriptures to make us understand? He specifically says to look at the birds of the air, they don’t put seed into the ground and they don’t reap the harvest and still God feeds them daily. I guess that is great thing, imagine never having to sow and reap in order to get things that we need, but even so God keeps shedding His love upon us. Lets look at some more scriptures on the sparrow. .

” Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.” (Psalms 84:3) If we are more loved and more in God’s favor don’t you believe that we always will have a home, a place to lay our head, a place to grow a family. The enemy may bring the storm, but that can only last for so long.

Sing the Song of Your Heart

With the approach of Hurricane Dorian, a lot of North and South Carolinian’s had to hunker down. As my wife and I were sitting at the dining room table just before the storm approached, my wife asked me, “Where do the birds go when the storm comes?” I sat there for a moment and then replied, “I don’t know, but they must hunker down like we do.” The day the storm approached, I was fearful about the the destruction that this storm could do. I believed that God would hold me tight and that was to protect the house that He was rebuilding. We weathered storm with very little damage, but the next morning the song of the birds was heard as usual. I now call it their song of praise. That where I missed it. For over a year God sent the cardinal to the window to wake me up for the new day. Yes the devastation I suffered was terrible, but the most difficult thing was that in all the turmoil I had endured, God was still saying that I still have the song in my heart. Everyday I should be singing that heart’s song to God for all that He has done.

I did’t mean for this to be a sermon, but a message to everyone who reads these words, don’t look at the destruction around you, but open your heart to the song that is deep within and sing. Sing just as the birds sing their song of praise everyday. The devil only wants to steal from you, to cause devastation, and to try to kill you. The material things they can be replaced, but the song in your heart should never be stifled. So today I challenge you to get up and let the hearts song sing.