consider the birds.

so i've had a blank canvas sitting in my room since april. i wanted to paint or create some form of artwork for the wall above my bed in my bedroom, but i never had the inspiration. you could say i was waiting for my muse.. and without an idea of what i'm doing i err on the side of too much. and i've learned from my previous mistakes.

well, low and behold, i finally finished my artwork. doing arts and crafts is similar to therapy for me... so once i know what i'm doing, i'm able to relax and i can lose all track of time while doing it. my theme was "consider the birds" and is taken from Luke 12:22-26:

"Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?"

recently, i have learned how much of a control freak i am. there is this innate nature in us that doesn't want to be uncomfortable or in a waiting room situation. we live in an instantaneous world where everything is at our fingertips. and this is not to an attack against technology and all it has accomplished, but it has instilled in us this desire to have answers now and decrease our ability to have and extend patience. 

there is beauty in the waiting room, in the unknown, in the times i have to loosen my grip on life, in trust, in stillness, in making decisions with faith as my footing. so this is going to take you back a few years, especially if you were involved in youth group ministry in the late 90's early 2000's.. i revisited the lyrics from shane and shane's song "waiting room", and i love two of the stanzas:

sitting in the waiting room of silence
waiting for that still soft voice i know
offering my words up to the rooftop to Your heart
trusting that this closet's where You are

Lord i know if i change my mind
You will change my heart in time
Sovereign Lord this time's from You
so i sit in the waiting room of silence
cause its all about You

ultimately, whatever i am worrying about or impatiently hoping for, He's got it. it is in my trust, in my stillness, in my wait that i find His Provision for me. and maybe, just maybe, this waiting time is for my refinement to know i can't do this on my own. and maybe that is a good thing. so, today, consider the ravens... 

{or the birds... i didn't want to write ravens on a canvas on my wall.. edgar allen poe flashbacks}