Luke 12:24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than birds!”

As I sit here, I watch the squirrels hide their nuts for the winter. They scurry around with their
mouths full of acorns, jumping from branch to branch to telephone wire to branch. The winter is coming and they are preparing. Squirrels do not hibernate during the winter, and so they need to have stashes of food that are easily accessible, and yet often times, they will forget where they hid their food. The nuts are covered by leaves and snow, the snow melts and softens the ground, and the acorns are buried and begin to grow, starting new trees.

Birds are also quite visible during the fall. They fly around, eating seeds and worms and what all
they can find, not caring what is going to happen later. They can fly, they can leave when it gets cold. These birds will migrate south, towards warmer places. As they fly, the seeds and dust in their feathers and the pollen that settles on them is carried south with them, helping the spread and balance of nature.

God created nature to nurture itself. We worry about provisions and can our supplies last. We
worry about having enough natural resources. We worry about everything except what we should be worrying about – living as God would want us to. Very few of us think of God beyond “He saved me!” We say that we know that He is our provider, but we then act as if He does not care or provide.

If God provides acorns for the squirrels, warm wintering grounds for the birds, and snow to cover the ground and incubate the seeds which will then grow into next-year's plants, can we wonder when He provides for us in more direct ways? These miracles of nature which we take for granted are much more difficult and complex than anything we want or desire.

How does a bird know where to go? How is it that a bird can fly that far, that quickly, in extended periods of flight without failing year after year? How does the squirrel instinctively know where the best place to hides nuts...places where the acorns can grow in the spring? How is it the butterflies can migrate without directions across the Gulf of Mexico. They are even smaller and lighter than birds! How is it the Salmon can and will swim hundreds of miles over waterfalls and rapids to get to the appropriate breeding grounds? How is it we can doubt God's hand when someone says just what is needed to encourage us?

The squirrels scurry around hiding acorns day after day, stockpiling for the winter. Sure, they will lose some piles. Sure they will be unable to eat everything, and yes, these squirrels can only do so much, but they still try. They still try. They stay faithful to what they instinctively know to be their job. If a squirrel fails to store enough food, it will starve or freeze. It does not know this, however. It just knows that its life right now consists of repetitious work, day after day after day.

Christ taught through nature. He pointed out that all creation shows God and proves His nature. In our journey to be like Christ, we too should strain to recognize God's nature from His creation. We should learn from it.

Let us begin to trust God further. Remember, Jesus wanted Peter to step out of the boat first, and then walk out on the water.

Praise to the Spirit of life, all praise to the Fount of our being,
Light that dost lighten all, Life that in all dost abide.
God, who are Giver of all good gifts and Lover of concord,
Pour they balm on our souls, order our ways in they peace.
God Almighty, who fills the heaven, the earth, and the ocean,
Guard us from harm without, cleanse us from evil within.
Kindle our lips with the live bright coal from the hands of the Seraph;
Shine in our minds with thy light; burn in our hearts with they love!