God's Intricate Faithfulness

I pulled off of my kitchen shelf a small book with the words "Special Occasions" scripted across the front. Each year about this time, I place it by my kitchen sink, dust off my binoculars that are housed most of the year in the back of the kitchen towel drawer, and begin to watch for migratory birds.

The book is special to me, even though I only use it from mid-April to mid-May. I do not know who gave it to me or when I received it. Most people use this type of book to record birthdays and anniversaries. I use it to record when I see different birds, as they fly through for Spring, marking their names and the year. For example, these are the current entries:

April 24th:

Veery 2004

Wren 2006/2009

Chipping Sparrow 2006

Nashville Warbler 2009

April 25th:

Veery 2009

Ruby Crowned Kinglet 2006

Chipping Sparrow 2009

White Throated Sparrow 2009

April 26th:

White Throated Sparrow 2003

White Crowned Sparrow 2003

Chipping Sparrow 2004/2005

I gaze out my kitchen window or wander around my back yard, trying to spot the newest arrival. I search for their flitting and flying. I am delighted by their songs.

God is so amazingly faithful. How can it be that each year, I see the same type of bird for the first time, within the same dates. Take the Chipping Sparrow, for instance. I saw one on April 24th in 2006, on April 25th this year, and on April 26th in 2004 and 2005. How does God do that?

These sweet little birds find their way north without a map or a GPS, like clockwork each year. They do not wear a watch. They do not carry a suitcase. They do not have a ticket. They just do what God designed them to do and what He plans for them and they fly. They are fed by the Lord when they are hungry, and they are directed to shelter when they need to rest or are in danger of a storm. He cares for their every need and He leads them through the skies. Some may call it instinct. I call it God's intricate faithfulness.

Psalm 57:10 says, "For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." As I look for the birds in the skies and record them in my book for "Special Occasions" I am amazed at how God is at work in the journies of little birds and how His timing is so perfect. And I am reminded of His timely care and love for me, as I journey with Him, designed by Him and part of His plan. Great is His faithfulness, indeed.