There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows! Matthew 10:26-31
Yesterday while gardening with a friend, she told me of a tiny sparrow that had fallen from it's nest and died. It reminded me of the time, at our old house, when we had the privilege of having a birds nest right outside our kitchen window. We were able to watch every stage of the tiny sparrows lives! They would wake from their slumber and poke their innocent heads up to start chirping for their parent, and as sure as rain the mother would come to their call and bring nourishment. I recall one day as they were getting older they mustered up the courage to start bending over the nest to see the world around them. One of the babies seemed to be the braver of the four and it jumped up to perch itself on the side. It tottered and wavered as it tried to find it's new balance and the other small siblings seemed to be cheering it on, "Oh be careful! Don't fall! What's out there? You can do it!" Soon they began to take turns and as I watched them, all I could think of were the times I saw my own son as he tried new things and I stood by worrying with concern.
The next day as I went out to garden I found one of the tiny sparrows lying on the ground. "Oh Lord" I cried, as I stood feeling sad and confused. "Why?", was all I kept saying as I held it's stiff and lifeless body in the cup of my hands. And no sooner after I buried the tiny lost creation in the ground did I begin to parallel my life to its. "Do You Oh God, really watch over us? How do I begin to see Your care and love in my life when there is so much pain and loss?" I felt such an overwhelming feeling of abandonment, as if there were no purpose in anything and the planet was just a cyclical compost pile for life's wreckage's. If this tiny sparrow could drop to it's death then where do my pain and failures fall? Is there an eternal loving lap where our sorrows could lay?
To this day I've never forgotten that tiny lost life, but one thing rose from it's death and that's the lesson that God spoke to my heart upon every remembrance of it... "I love you my child, for neither life nor death can ever separate you from My love! Just as I know every feather upon that sparrow, I know every hair upon your head! I was with your mother when she fell ill and I was there when her body died. I held her hand as I brought her to my side in the heavenly realms. And all the while I was comforting you, your sisters and your brother and especially your dad, who I helped as he raised all of you. I have been there with you, next to your bed of sickness and all your days of pain. Though my tiny sparrow's life ended the day he fell, you have survived all your falls because it was my lap you fell into. There has not been one fall that I have not been there to catch you and cradle you. I wiped your tears as you wept and gently pushed your bangs away from your eyes as I swiped my hand over your hair to calm your troubled soul. And although some of My children I call home earlier than they or their loved ones think is the right time, I am with them and I am with those who must remain for awhile longer.
Sorrow and Suffering accompanied Me as I worked my ministry on earth, so they will be with all my children, not as de-constructors of your spirits as you often think, but as constructors who will forge My image in each of you! Pure love is not the absence of sacrifice, it is the loving hand of a Creator whose calculated blows form the Sculptors image in His creation! Think of the marble statues of times past, the precise cut of a priceless diamond... those are strikes against the creation that bring forth beauty, worth and purpose! The trials in your life are not random or useless, they are times in the fire that make your metal able to be formed into an instrument of My peace. Your purpose on this earth is to trust Me to prepare you, to go forth and be My laps for a hurting world! You ask, "Where is God, when times of deep sorrow or trouble come?" I tell you, "I am here....in each of My children." So surrender all to Me and walk out into a world that is filled with brokenness and let Me love through you!
This world and all it's pain will pass away one day and My children will never know sorrow, loss or brokenness again! No more tears, no more worries, no more pain....just light and love and joy. Do not fall now from a hopeless heart, for your reward awaits you in heaven! You are not alone, not forgotten and whatever you go through....I go through it with you....for My cheeks burn from the tears you shed. NEVER DOUBT MY LOVE. Rise now, take up your bed and go comfort the hurting with My great love that I have loved you with!
Suggested reading: There is Hope for the Hurting by Robert Lee, Enjoying God by S.J. Hill
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