Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Philippians 4:4 NIV

I love to feed the birds who hang around our community. Now, for the, “Don’t feed the birds” purists, know that I don’t do this every day. But about once every week, while out on my walk, I bring any leftover bread from a restaurant meal or leftover crackers or chips from our small group meetings. Last week, my wife and I brought a bag of some stale corn chips, but when we arrived, only one lonely Ibis was standing by in the usual place where I feed them. So, we smiled and said something about his being the lucky Ibis and began tossing out the crumbled chips. But our lonely lucky recipient wasn’t alone for long. Almost immediately, as if by magic, first one, then another and finally thirty in all were joyfully pecking at place where we had distributed their little treat.

Their joyful abandonment at the few crumbs we passed out that afternoon made us really laugh and reminded me of today’s verse. Even though those birds weren’t receiving anything of eternal value, they joyfully danced about, making sure they didn’t miss even the tiniest crumb. They sorted through the tall grass, wove their way through the crowd of feathered friends and thoroughly delighted in what we gave them. That reminds me of how Jesus told us that we need to pay careful attention to how His Father delights in feeding the birds. Now, we are far more precious to God than sparrows, ravens or Ibis, but He uses them to teach us a lesson on joy. So often we lose our joy when things don’t go as planned, we don’t reach the goals that we had set or we face difficulty, suffering and sorrow. But the difference between joy and disappointment, contentment and anxiety is that we want to dictate what is on the menu. We overlook that God has a daily bread planned for each of us and it isn’t stale, leftover crumbs. The details of our day have been carefully chosen by Him, just for us. Our job is not to dictate the how and when of His provision, but to joyfully seek out every crumb that He has set before us. Things were not always joyful for Jesus while He was on this earth. But the Bible tells us that, seeing the joy that was ahead of Him He endured the suffering of the Cross. While there was not a single detail of the day of His death that anyone in their right mind would consider joyful, Jesus found what others missed. A lost thief, a hardened centurion, a frightened disciple, a grieving mother and a crowd of enemies each received a blessing from Him. He could still give joy because He saw the joy that lay ahead of Him. He finished His time here on earth with the joy of knowing that He had finished everything that the Father had sent Him to do, and that one day all of us who trust in Him could join Him in Heaven and rejoice forever in His presence!