“All of them look to You to give them their food in due season. You give it to them:they gather it; You open Your hand , and they are filled with good things.” Psalm 104:28-29
We can take a lesson from the creatures of the earth. They trust in God to provide for them, as should we. But they also toil- they search out their food and gather it. A squirrel doesn’t sit in a tree and wait for the acorns to fall. He scours the ground in search for the ones which have already fallen, and then stores them away or buries them for the future after he is full. When my husband was alive we’d put out raw peanuts in the crook of the trees and have fun watching the squirrels seek them out, eat one or two, and then dash off with the rest. Each spring when I planted flowers, I’d find peanuts buried in the flower beds and pots.
I think too often I have not been very squirrel-like. I have sat in prayer and waited for God’s blessing to flow down upon me, yet never made the effort to gather the ones He had already provided. Nor have I stored away those blessings in my heart for the periods in my life when His abundance was not so evident. I let them sit on the ground and rot, just inches from my reach. And then, I wondered why God had not plopped His blessings in my lap – had I displeased Him? Wasn’t He listening?
I love that prehistoric squirrel in the Ice Age movies who is always in pursuit of that illusive acorn. He wants that acorn more than anything else and will do everything he can to gain it. God has provided the acorn, and the squirrel’s desire to have it. He created us to desire His Word, mercy and fellowship. He has already given it to us – He has provided everything to draws us to Him, even sacrificing His own life on the Cross. But we must listen to the desire of our heart, and pursue it.
May we have the fervency of that prehistoric squirrel, and pursue His blessings at all costs. And may we gather up and store those blessings so in those times of doubt, fear or disbelief which whirls around us like a blizzard, we can have those blessings to nourish us through, knowing our Lord has provided even then.
