“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.” Psalm 84:3
We have been looking at houses. The search has taken us to the heights of excitement and to the lows of disappointment. We have walked through some beautiful rooms in the process. We have locked eyes and silently screamed “no!” as well. We want this house to be the place we are content to stay for many years to come. It is important to us to be sure that the house is what we want, or that it is in a price range that will allow us to make it what we want. In all of the searching we are content, but we have yet to know where we will land.
Why did God compare us to sparrows?
I personally find it funny that He would remind us that we are worth so much more. I believe He knew the future well enough to know that when I (in the year 2018) think of sparrows, I think of the invasive House Sparrow or English Sparrow. They aren’t native to this area of the world and were introduced to get rid of another pest, only to become a bit of a pest themselves. They are plentiful and loud, they ruin things, they take over bluebird houses, and they aren’t considered as pretty as many of the other songbirds, but God still cares about them.
Through this journey of house hunting I’ve been scourged by a doubt, that has been troublesome to shake. The doubt is that I don’t really deserve a nice house in the country with a bit of land to enjoy and most of all a view that stretches beyond an obtrusive house or tree line and allows me to see the sun rise or set. I want that. I want some sky to look at, and I’ve wanted it for a long time. I probably don’t deserve it though.
I don’t see that I am any better than the sparrow, but I know that the key to shaking my doubt isn’t in justifying my dreams, it’s in realizing that my Dream Keeper isn’t a score keeper. He hasn’t listed my good and bad points to weigh them against my hopes. He simply loves me. He values me. And the reason that even the sparrow has found a home near His altar is because He’s a Father and a Shepherd that loves us beyond our ability to earn our keep.
“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?” Matthew 6:26
I’m confident that I am worth more. I am confident that He watches over the sparrow, but far beyond that He cherishes His children.
He has a place for us, near His altar, where we can best be imitators of Him, as His dearly loved children.
Children of the heav’nly Father,
safely in His bosom gather;
nestling bird nor star in heaven
such a refuge e’er was given.
God His own doth tend and nourish;
in His holy courts they flourish.
From all evil things He spares them;
in His mighty arms He bears them.
Neither life nor death shall ever
from the Lord His children sever;
unto them His grace He showeth,
and their sorrows all He knoweth.
Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children ne’er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely
to preserve them pure and holy.
– Lina Sandell