Did you know the Bible talked about birds a lot of times? In the King James Version, bird or birds were mentioned 25 times, fowl 31 times, and fowls 54 times. That doesn’t include the mention of certain types of birds such as eagles, turtle doves, and pigeons.

Thus, it is not surprising to see that we can learn a lot of life lessons from birds as we go through the Bible. That’s what we are going to discuss today. You would be surprised that even little birds or seemingly insignificant creatures could teach us valuable lessons we can apply in our lives.

An unforgettable experience with the birds

Brethren, within a span of six days, I had one of the most unique experiences in my life — that is taking care of a nestling or what we commonly call a baby bird. While playing outside of our house, Caleb found a baby bird. My wife quickly told me about it. This wasn’t the first time we found baby birds in our backyard.

So, my first thought was that it will die like the other birds. Nevertheless, we brought it in and placed it inside a container. While looking at the bird, we are amazed and surprised that it opened its mouth. It was the first time I saw a nestling opening its mouth and it was so wide. I think it opened at 120 degrees.

We were thinking, “Oh, it wants to eat.” What should we feed it? We fed it with liquid food and eventually fed it with cooked rice. I was so excited to see how it was eating and a certain type of hope was kindled in me that this bird will survive.

The night had passed and the following morning came, I’m still thinking that the bird might not last long. We hid the bird in our kitchen. As I opened the box, the bird cried out and asked for food. Slowly, I became attached to the bird. Taking care of it created an invisible bond between us.

On the second or third day, my wife kept on telling me that I should return the baby bird to its parents. I didn’t like the idea. After all, how will the parent birds carry their baby bird back to the nest? However, eventually, we tried to put the baby bird in the open and it cried again. Lo and behold, the black birds came flying near it. They were responding to the bird’s call. That’s when we confirmed that the baby bird is a house crow.

So, we decided to put the bird in the garage where the parent birds might visit it. I wasn’t really expecting the parent birds would come but again, lo and behold, they went to the box and actually fed the baby bird!

For me, that’s quite a sight to behold. I never saw something like this before. At first, I thought that once a baby bird fell from its nest, it was already a death sentence. I was proven wrong. Then, I thought the parent birds would have surely forgotten about the bird. Yet, I was proven wrong once again.

So, we decided to leave it in the garage to let the parent birds take care of it. What was fascinating about this is that when the baby bird met its parent birds, it stopped responding to me anymore. At first, every time it sees me, it will cry. Now, it tried to hide from me.

I think that’s how their instinct works. They are wired to be afraid or aloof from humans.

This happened many days when the parent birds came and fed the baby bird. Until the morning of Wednesday, that was the sixth day. I woke up and looked at our garage. I couldn’t see the box anymore on top of the big boxes.

So, I went ahead and checked. As I approached, I saw the little box on the floor. My heart missed a beat at the sight of the box. I tried to stay positive.

Maybe, the parent birds took the baby bird already. But something tells me, something bad happened. So, I went around the garage, looking for the baby bird, but I can’t find it anymore.

When I was about to give up, I looked up at the sky. It was a clear sky. I thought to myself, if the parent birds took the baby bird, I was hoping that at least I saw it fly.

So, I just bow my head in disappointment. That’s when I saw the baby bird with its chest and abdomen ripped open. It lay there on the ground, lifeless. I remembered then the day before that, I saw cats roaming around in our backyard.

I felt sadness that morning. I immediately took the baby bird and buried it. I also took the box that served as its home and threw it in the trash so I would quickly forget the sad feeling that I had.

So, that’s the sad story, at least for me. Looking back, there are a lot of lessons I learned from this experience. That’s why I shared this story with you because it serves as a teaching moment for me and I hope it will also be to you.

In this post, let me share with you five lessons I learned from taking care of the baby bird.

Lesson no 1: Open wide your mouth

One of the most fascinating aspects of my unique experience is the first time I saw a baby bird asking for food. It was an up-close experience and I’m truly amazed at how big their mouth is.

This reminds me of the verse in Psalm 81:10:

I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Yahweh wants us to open our mouths to Him. Not just open it a little bit, but open our mouths WIDE open. Sadly, just like the Israelites, a lot of people today open wide their mouths not to God, but to the gods they made. They open their mouths to worldly pleasures, wealth, and ambitions. When we put these things between us and God, we are making a little god out of them.

If you could see how bird parents feed their young, you would absolutely be amazed at how big the mouth of the baby birds is. The small birds would cry out to their parents with unimaginable enthusiasm, yearning, and excitement. Imagine if we can have the same attitude towards God if we can have the same excitement every time we read our Bible, pray, and meditate upon His way of life.

Lesson no. 2: We must depend on Yahweh

The second lesson is that we must learn to depend on Yahweh’s divine providence. The baby bird trusts its parent for sustenance. The baby bird is completely reliant on Yahweh. If the parent birds knew exactly how to feed their young, then most certainly, God our Father knows even more about how to take care of us.

That’s why, if God tells you to do something, do it! You don’t have to worry about what will happen. We read in Matthew 6:25-27:

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 

Sometimes, we worry too much and that’s understandable because we are human beings. However, we are not called to do the natural, but we must do the supernatural. What I mean is that we must go beyond our physical existence and focus on God’s divine providence.

Lesson no. 3: Be patient and trust God’s timing

The third lesson is that we must be patient and trust God’s timing. The parent birds can’t stay with their baby birds all the time. They needed to go out and find food. The baby birds patiently wait for the parent bird. What’s more, that baby bird trusted his parents that they would return. What a powerful demonstration of faith.

We read in Isaiah 40:31:

31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. 

Did you see that? Another mention of birds in the Bible. You can see here that eagles become fully grown because they depend on their parents. Without their parents, they will die of starvation and predation. However, because they waited upon their parents, their strength was renewed until they too could fly.

In the same manner, we too must trust God’s timing and be patient. There might be times when it seems God isn’t there anymore. It seems that He left us. We are overwhelmed with so many problems and trials that we question God’s love.

Yet, when God feels like He isn’t there, we must know that He is out there preparing and arranging things. He is taking obstacles out of our path. He is removing the wrong people. He is setting us up and preparing us to receive His blessings. We must be patient and trust the perfect timing of God.

Lesson no. 4: Life is unpredictable

The fourth lesson I want to share with you is that life is unpredictable. One moment, the bird is alive. The next moment it is already dead. I have a full expectation that it will grow and learn to fly but life is truly unpredictable.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 tells us:

I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all. 

Because life is unpredictable, what should we do? We must treasure every moment that we have. We must not waste our time. If you get angry, don’t let the sun go down on your wrath. Don’t hold onto it. Surrender it to God.

If someone offends you, don’t take it too personally. 50 years from now after you die, no one’s going to remember that anymore. So, what’s the use?

Choose to be kind rather than insisting you’re right. Sometimes, it’s not worth destroying the relationship just to prove that you’re superior to others. Be nice to all people, no matter what position they hold because even the beggars in the street are human beings who are made in the image of God.

You see, brethren, life is unfair. You can choose to be sour, bitter, and grumpy and reach the end of your life full of regrets. Or, you can choose to be joyful, encouraging, and kind and reach the end of your life full of wonderful memories.

Most importantly, brethren, life is a gift from God and how we live our life is our gift to Him.

Life is unpredictable. How are you using your gift? Use it for the glory of Yahweh so that no matter what happens in life, whether you die tomorrow or you live for another 100 years, you know that you have lived well.

Don’t go to the grave with a heavy heart. Let go of your anger, bitterness, and negative thinking. Replace it with God’s truth, love, and grace. Because in the final analysis brethren, God will not judge you by how much you know, but by how much you have loved.

Lesson no. 5: Take care of your children

We just had our successful Young Leaders Camp and during that time, I learned how vulnerable our young people are. They are exposed to various temptations, trials, and challenges in life. Some of the problems the young people shared during our Christian Living Classes include immoral entertainment, bad language, premature romantic relationships, pornography, negative peer pressure, and the need to accept immoral lifestyles.

Make no mistake about it: the devil hates the children. He hates them so much that he is out there to destroy them and he will do everything at his disposal just to deviate them from God’s way of life. What’s more, Satan has greater hate toward the children of God.

Just like in my experience, the cat is like Satan. He is always looking for a chance to destroy God’s children, especially the young and innocent. As parents and guardians, we must be vigilant. Don’t ignore red flags. Do your best to protect your children from the evil devices of Satan.

In my story, I already saw the cats roaming around in our backyard. But what did I do? I did nothing. I thought that the cats were too cute to kill the baby bird. I saw the warning sign, yet I ignored it.

Let this also be a lesson for all parents out there. Our children are more precious than those baby birds. We must not let Satan snatch them out of our caring and loving hands.

Learn the Vital Life Lessons from the Birds

There you have it, brethren, the five spiritual lessons we can learn from birds. Who would have thought that a simple creature like a bird can teach us so many valuable lessons? I hope you were inspired by my story and that you go out there to live out the lessons we learn from the small, humbleWnat, and peaceful birds.

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