Consider the Ravens (Luke 12:24)

Ravens.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear that word, the image that first comes to mind is a black, ugly-looking bird. Would I dare eat my sun-dried stockfish after it has been touched by a raven? No, never!  Even the English language despises this bird, because the word “rave” is derived from “raven”. When a group of people are described as “a group of ravens”, it simply means they are treacherous, unkind and conspiratorial.

Ravens are large all-black birds; they are wild scavengers– they feed on carrion, dead things and wastes. Their appearance is generally interpreted as a bad omen. Personally, the sight of a raven frightens me. Seeing a raven at night for me is a call to prayer, or a vigil even.

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However, I am beginning to understand differently. I am beginning to realise that as ugly as ravens appear, there is also something beautiful and endearing about them. The brain of a typical raven is among the largest of any bird species. This explains their impressive cognitive abilities which include imitation and intuition. Scientists observed about 15-30 categories of vocalization in ravens, most of which are used for social interaction

Interestingly, the raven was mentioned 12 times in the Bible. First was after the flood when Noah sent a raven out and expected it to return but it didn’t. Also in the new testament, Jesus tells a parable using a raven to show how people should rely on God for their daily needs (Luke 12:24). Also, in 1Kings 17: 4-6, God fed Elijah in the wilderness by sending ravens to bring him food. I would have thought that God would send a dove or any other good-looking bird, not a raven. There must have been a reason why God chose to send a raven and I am still trying to figure out that reason. But maybe we are the ones who see ugliness in ravens, maybe when God looks at the ravens, He only sees His beautiful creature.  What do you consider yourself to be? Or, better still, what do people see you as? If there is one thing I have learnt, it is that God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and the weak things to confound the mighty (1 Cor. 1:27). His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). What people see as dirty and irritable in you, God can make it clean and desirable. What you see as broken pieces in your life, God can make it whole. What people have described as useless in you, God can make it useful.

Rebecca Oladele