The Sparrow

It is Thursday morning, 23rd December, the year 2021, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Mathew 5:45

Oh, my dear friend, this morning we need to understand something very clearly because I was taught a lesson again, yesterday... That's right at my age! As believers, we are not exempt from the hardships and the tribulations of this world. In my humble opinion, the greatest man of faith in the whole Bible was a farmer named Job. Job suffered more than anyone and yet he stood. He was not a fair-weather Christian. He trusted his God in the hardships and in the good times.

Job 13:15 is one of my favourite verses:

“(Even)Though He slay me, yet will I (still) trust Him.”

Hebrews 13:6:

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”

You know, yesterday afternoon we had a devastating hail storm on this farm, Shalom and it cut like a sword right through it. It is amazing how hail works. Not only does it cut a straight line but it goes up and down like a roller coaster. It will hit one farm and miss the next and then hit the next one.

We have got a house with a flat roof and of course, all the hail and the leaves from the trees around us it packed onto the roof and the roof started to leak like a sieve. I think there was more rain in the house than outside the house. I got on the roof with my little grandson, and we were shovelling hail and leaves off the top of the roof so that the roof wouldn’t collapse, and so that the rain wouldn’t continue to come through.

And while we were shovelling this, I said to Bakkies, “What is that noise?” And he said, “What Khulu?” (Khulu being the Zulu word for grandfather, and Bakkies being the nickname for Buchan). I said, “Listen”, and folks I want to tell you I heard a sparrow singing in the tree. Now, I didn’t think there was a bird left alive. This storm, the hailstorm went on and on. I didn’t think there would be a living creature left and there he was singing. At 8 o’clock last night when we were trying to find a dry place to sleep, my wife and I heard a dove. Now, doves sing in the morning. Nightingales sing at night but this dove was singing at 8 o’clock at night.

I want to tell you that Jesus Christ says, “If I can take care of a sparrow…" - I want to say to you, He can take care of you. It doesn’t matter what you are going through.

Jesus bless you and have a lovely day, find somebody that you love and tell them that Jesus cares.
Goodbye.