His Eye Is On the Sparrow

Spring is here and my purple martin house welcomes this year's tenants.  It's funny how we watch the house for the intended bird, but fret when sparrows arrive to neighbor with the martins.  I guess sparrows have always been considered a lesser bird.  Lesser, lower value, unworthy, little, poor, ugly, no good.... adjectives we sometimes use to describe ourselves when our self-esteem is dipping low.  The scripture clarifies our worth by reminding us that the Lord knows and cares when a lowly sparrow falls, and that He values us even more.

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? [NIV]

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. [NIV]
Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.   Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.  [NIV]

When I was a little girl in the mid 1960's, I remember a visiting evangelist named Sister Willie Johnson who held a revival in a neighboring town.  She was the first female minister I had ever seen.  Every night before she preached she would sing a different song, accompanied by her travelling friend on the organ.  My parents purchased one of her albums and brought home to play on our large console stereo that filled a living room wall.  The album was translucent blue and about the coolest thing I'd ever seen! 

One night Sister Willie sang this song:

     I sing because I'm happy.
     I sing because I'm free.
     His eye is on the sparrow
     And I know he's watching me.

Even at six, I knew I wanted her happiness and freedom.  And I so longed for Him to watch over me too.  I didn't quite understand the part about the sparrow.  I later learned the song was penned in 1905 by Civilla D. Martin, inspired by a couple, Mr. & Mrs. Doolittle, full of happiness and hopefulness, despite that Mr. Doolittle had used a wheelchair for 20 years.  When asked about their secret to a happy life, Mrs. Doolittle replied “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” As I grew up and began to feel that nagging notion of being small and insignificant and unworthy, I understood the lowliness of the sparrow in the song that Sister Willie sang.  And I learned even more of the holiness of the eyes who watched the sparrow and me.  I was made in His image.  I am good because He says I’m forgiven.  I am His child.  He cares about me.  Now I know for sure that He's watching me.  And watching you.