Submission to God

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. (Matthew 6.26)

When I was a child, this verse used to amaze me. I wonder why! Today, when I reflect on this verse I am reminded of my student’s poem, which, she wrote at age ten. A few lines from Anum Khalid’s poem are as follows:

Look at the goat
How innocent she is
Look at the lion
How brave he is
Look at the cat
How cute she is
Look at all the animals that God made
They are a gift of God
for us
to love and live in this world!

Perhaps at age ten, a child’s thoughts are structured as "look at this and look at that"! Perhaps, this is how a child views the world; in very simple "look at" way of thinking and then tries to make sense of why such and such thing exists and how. It is interesting that in Anum Khalid’s case, she answers both these questions: How? Because God made them! Why? Because all qualities such as innocence, bravery, cuteness, exist so that we can love and live in this world!

I think this is why this verse spoke so well to me as a child. It starts out, "look at the bird’s of the air" and then it tells me that the bird’s are entirely dependent on God for their food, shelter and basic needs. Perhaps this is the quality, the complete submission to God, that God wanted to teach us through the creation of Birds!

Of late I have developed a fondness for birds. Each time I watch my birds fly or swim or just sit around, I am reminded that God wants me to completely submit my life to God’s will!

May we all think like children and through very simple questions of "how" and "why" and through very simple child like thought patterns accept our total submission to God!