His Eye is on the Sparrow (Strength in Hymn)

"His Eye is on the Sparrow"

by Civilla D. Martin

Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely,
and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion
My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled,” 

His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears.
Though by the path He leadeth,
But one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, 

Whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, 

When hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, 

From care He sets me free.
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me. 

My mother loved birds.  She had well-stocked feeders outside her front and back windows, and she kept her camera close by. Her dining room was also adorned with at least three dozen bird figurines on the shelves and hung from the wall and above the window. I gave her the two birds at the top of the post. After she passed away about two weeks ago, my sister encouraged me and my children to choose some of the birds to take home. We did.  My favorites are the cardinals.

Knowing how much my mother loved birds and music, my sweet cousin, Dr. Mary Lynne Bennett, offered to play a piano solo of "His Eye is on the Sparrow" as a tribute to my mother.

After several weeks traveling back and forth to Maryland three times, I've been home for almost a week. In the middle of grieving for my mother, which sometimes washes over me in waves, I knew I would have to hit the ground running to get everything ready for school. School clothes, school supplies, forms to fill out, orientations to attend...  Most of my school age children are changing schools this year and I am starting a new part-time job as a paid teacher in a private / home school hybrid program. Understandably, we are anxious at the same time that we are excited. There are so many other changes in our lives right now. We know we're going to have to make major schedule adjustments and stretch ourselves in self-discipline and professionalism.  

It would be easy for me to be troubled and fearful right now. I am troubled and fearful right now. I need to remind myself constantly that his eye is on the sparrow and that he watches me.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:

they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory 

was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,

will he not much more clothe you, 

O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:25-33

You might also like these related posts:

• His Eye is on the Sparrow (a story)
• Shimmer and Shadow (poem)
• This Is My Song and I Sing (poem)
• Do Cry (poem)
• Let There Be Peace on Earth (Strength in Hymn)
• Be Thou My Vision (Strength in Hymn)
• For All the Faithful Women (Strength in Hymn)
• Radiant Nurturer: Recent Photos of My Mother
• Vintage Photos of My Mother
• In Memoriam: A Tribute to My Mother, Mary Quarrier
• In the Garden (When the Caregiver Needs Care)

Virginia Knowles

www.WatchTheShepherd.blogspot.com