Feeding Birds

 Brenda and I were enjoying lunch this past Sunday. We sat in a booth next to a full length plate glass window. Outside two birds caught my attention. They kept finding little morsels of food. What amazed me was they were finding this food on concrete sidewalks and asphalt parking lots. They swooped down and walked about finding a fragment here and there. 

As we got ready to leave an idea popped in my mind. I reached down and took a little bit of food in my hand and dropped it on the parking lot when we walked out and the birds flew away. I opened the door to let Brenda in the car and then walked around to get in myself. Brenda pointed that one of the birds had already found the food. It was downing a grain of rice. I watched in amazement. Then I thought of a verse. 

[Matt 6:26] Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? (NASV)

I meditated on that verse. It amazed me that the Heavenly Father put it in my mind to take some food from my left over lunch to drop on the ground for those birds. I cannot remember the last time I did that. Maybe as a child with some french fries. God loves those birds. He knows each of them. He loves them so much He chose to use me to provide a little sustenance for them. He does not love them enough to die for them. Jesus did that for us humans. 

Are we not of much more worth than birds? Absolutely! In similar ways God has provided for the Edwards family repeatedly by stirring someone to send us money at an exact time when we most needed provision. God does it over and over again. We have shared so many stories in the past. 

I am pleased to announce that my new book is now available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The book title is Prayer: Ministry From The Secret Place.  Every dollar from those book sales will go to build a community park in Weatherford near the church. I share several stories of the ways God has provided for us time and time again in the book. All to promote God and prayer.

Just yesterday we were hit with another challenge. I checked the mail and noticed a letter from Wayland Baptist University. Inside was another test. I discovered we owed several thousand dollars for one of our sons who is set to graduate on December 9. He will not be allowed to graduate unless the bill is paid off. I thought of that little bird. The same God who fed it is the same God who provides for our family. He is the same God who provides for you. I know He is faithful. He knew we would owe tuition money. Just this past summer we saw God work to provide for Turner's tuition through an unusual circumstance. Someone contacted us and asked if we had a need when we did have a need. God moved them to send money to cover the tuition. We have experienced it over and over again for three decades. Not one or two stories here or there. Multiple stories of God coming through with provision repeatedly. Enough to fill a couple of books: Behold The Faithfulness of God (2008) and Prayer: Ministry From The Secret Place (2022). 

So we continue to pray, trust, and press on in faith. I know many of you are in the same boat we find ourselves in. We serve an amazing God, with creative genius, omnipotent power, and unlimited resources who is generous to share with His children. 

Let me conclude with one additional story. This past weekend we went to watch Tanner coach and Tucker play at college. I emptied my wallet of all the cash I had to share with them. I wish I had more to give them. On Sunday night we gave money to support a Ukrainian pastor and his wife. Brenda and I talked before the offering. We knew what we could afford. We also felt called to sacrifice. We remembered something a professor in college told us, "You will never out give God." We prayed and decided on an amount that was allocated for another bill. We stepped out in faith. I heard several others in that service gave more than they had intended to do because God stirred all of us. He rallied people in our small church to give over $2,500 to that couple. I was overjoyed. 

God be praised. God be exalted. God be honored. God be glorified. He feeds birds. He provides for pastors on the other side of the world. He takes care of my family right here in Weatherford, TX.