How Much More
Hebrews 4:16 · Matthew 7:11 (NIV)
At ARTIS Royal Zoo in Amsterdam, a southern ground hornbill broke his beak. Both the upper and lower parts snapped, leaving two short, misshapen stumps. Good Good Good reported on October 19 that he could still manage some things, but much of his natural behavior was limited.
A beak is how a hornbill eats. So the zoo's veterinarians went to work. Specialists at Utrecht University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine scanned his head and the broken pieces. They rebuilt the original shape on a computer and designed two new parts, one for the top and one for the bottom. The parts are plastic, held in place with titanium pieces and screws.
Hours after surgery, he was already using his new beak. The next morning, he picked up a mouse from the ground. Within days, he was preening his feathers again.
The zoo describes the treatment as the first known case of both parts of a bird's beak being replaced this way. The team hopes the new beak will work well over the long term. That part is still unknown.
It is a small story about a big idea. Someone saw a creature that could not feed itself well, and they made a way for it to eat again.
The Bible tells us GOD has that same heart toward HIS people, and far more.
Psalm 81, a festival song bearing the name of Asaph, recalls Israel's rescue from slavery. In it, GOD reminds Israel of what HE had already done. "I removed the burden from their shoulders" (Psalm 81:6). "In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you" (Psalm 81:7).
Then GOD says this. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it" (Psalm 81:10).
Picture a baby bird with its beak open wide. That image comes to mind as I read this invitation. The psalm itself also names Israel's refusal to listen. GOD calls HIS people back to the One who rescued them and can sustain them.
JESUS said the same thing in HIS Sermon on the Mount. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).
Many of us hesitate to ask. We worry that our needs are too small, or that we should have found the words by now. We carry things quietly that we could bring to GOD.
JESUS answers that worry with a picture any parent understands. "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?" (Matthew 7:9-10). Then HE finishes the thought. "How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11).
How much more. Our Father is better than the best earthly parent. JESUS promises the Father's good gifts. We can trust HIS goodness even when an answer comes differently from what we hoped. HE welcomes us to ask.
Some of us come to GOD tired. We have pushed through one more task so often that we have forgotten how to stop. Our exhaustion is something we can bring to HIM too.
The prophet Isaiah, who spoke for GOD to Israel about seven centuries before JESUS, describes a GOD who never runs low. The LORD "will not grow tired or weary." Then Isaiah adds, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak" (Isaiah 40:28-29).
When Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt, asked GOD to show him the way forward, GOD answered with a simple promise. "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14).
A bishop named Irenaeus led the church in Lyon, in what is now France, around AD 180. In Against Heresies, Book IV, chapter 5, he recalls JESUS' answer to those who denied the resurrection. The GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the GOD of the living. Irenaeus describes Abraham as "walking as a pilgrim with the Word." The One who called Abraham is the One made known in CHRIST.
The Letter to the Hebrews speaks to early believers under pressure. It describes JESUS as our great high priest, able to empathize with our weakness. Because of HIM, we can come with confidence. "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
Throne of grace. Our need is the reason we come. Mercy is what we receive there.
The hornbill could not fix his own beak. Others saw his need and made a way. We cannot fix ourselves either. Our Father sees our need, invites us to ask, and has already made the way through JESUS.
It does leave me thinking about the small things I have not bothered to bring to GOD, because I assumed they were too small for HIM.
I am not here to prove myself. I am here to make HIM visible.
🙏 To the one who feels like a bother, HE welcomes you to ask.
🙏 To the one running on empty, HE gives strength to the weary.
🙏 To the one who has nothing to bring, open wide and let HIM fill you.
🙏 To the one who needs mercy today, the throne is a throne of grace.
Grace and Peace.