Empty feeders

 

Empty bird feeders leaning against the trunk of the rowan tree, silhouetted against a pale grey sky. The larder of the landscape provides for our feathered friends during these warmer summer days.

Upstairs, as I sit down at my laptop, I am mesmerised by the aerial display being enacted outside my window by the swallows, swooping and darting, chattering and wheeling on the light wind. Preparing to head south soon, as their food supply begins to wane in these northern climates.

I enjoy the ease of partaking of God’s provision in the Bible. Unlike our bird feeders, it is never empty, but sometimes I am aware that I peck away quickly and don’t extract all the richness his word has to impart. But he doesn’t leave me hungry. The larder in the landscape of my life is full of God’s nourishing truths, encouragements and comforts, too, and even when I don’t linger long enough to really benefit from what He is feeding me in the Bible, still He provides through the words and actions of others I encounter, through the sounds I hear and the sights I see. Give me eyes to see, ears to hear and consciousness to recognise you in my day today, Lord.

I am grateful that God does not restrict himself to one means of feeding his flock, but makes use of even the most unlikely of ways to nourish us. May I be more aware today of the tenderness of my loving heavenly Father (who, I believe, is also revelling in the sheer joy of the acrobatic prowess of these energetic swallows this morning!).