In my quiet time this morning I asked the Lord to speak to me and was reminded of a tiny little hummingbird I saw out my window this morning. She was solitary and perched on a branch in a denuded fruit tree in the grey winter chill.

I asked what He wanted to say to me through that image and heard: “To you the bird seems tiny and helpless and weak, ill-equipped to survive the freezing temperatures. There appears to be no source of food for her nourishment as the land is barren of blooms.”

“But what you do not see are the many miraculous (to you) ways that I have already provided for her welfare and sustenance. Her body is intricately designed in such a way that she is able to withstand the cold. And there are insects available for her nourishment when nectar is scarce. Although you may not be able to see my hand on the life of such a tiny one as this, she is as much my creature as you are and is not forgotten or forsaken.”

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” Matthew 10:29

“Never despair for the ones who are suffering and who seem lost and alone. Though you cannot see my hand on their lives you may rest assured that I am there with them. I do not always rescue people from their circumstances. Sometimes it is those very circumstances that draw them near to Me. Trust the hurting and lost ones to My care. Only I can truly rescue them.”

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

If you are interested in learning more about how these tiny and amazing creatures survive the winter here is an article I found very informative: https://www.theguardian.com/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2006/apr/09/hummingbirds-survive-cold-nights

And another on how birds keep warm in winter: https://insider.si.edu/2015/01/keeping-warm-winter-birds/