Birds don’t have the God-given capacity to develop self-sufficiency through sowing a field, reaping its harvest and storing it in barns to last for years. Jesus said, “… they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value (and better) than they?” (Matthew 6:26)
We are better than birds and have been trusted with the capacity to sow, reap and store – not so that we’ll live independently of Him, but rather that we may be blessed and able to help those in need, while simultaneously trusting Him in the process.
It’s important to note, that birds do play a role in their provision..
Every day, they leave their nest on a treasure hunt, looking for and finding the provision God has set aside for them. Without God’s forethought and provision, birds would have died out in one generation.
Jesus infers that birds don’t start and end each day worrying about food and drink. They expect to find what they need and don’t stress about having enough provision.
So after the morning worship service (otherwise known as the dawn chorus where they establish and confirm their territory), they head out to forage for food.
They’re not slackers.
They don’t wait for God to send food to their nest. They proactively search for what He has laid aside for them and they follow a five-step process, which anyone can follow and benefit from.
In Proverbs 30, Solomon encourages us to emulate the examples set by seven different species including ants, lizards, lions and goats. It is with that in mind, coupled with the admonition of Jesus to “Behold the fowls of the air” that I will lay out for you the how birds can live a life, never worrying about provision, and always having all sufficiency.
Step One: SEARCH
Every day birds look for food sources using their natural senses of sight, sound and smell. There is nothing hyper spiritual about this. They use their God-given abilities to look for the hidden treasures of provision.
Lesson one: As one who has seen the supernatural provision of God in my life many times, I can also say confidently that God gave us certain natural abilities and we should hone and use them daily.
Some birds soar high in the air using thermal soaring to conserve energy and survey their territory looking for their ideal prospect. In business, you will want to survey your sphere or target market to identify your best and most likely prospects.
Surveying your market first, either by analytics or actual surveys, will conserve energy because you know more precisely what your potential customers need and are looking for, and you’ll spend less time on “hard or stony ground prospects” (Mark 4) that have little opportunity.
Birds tend to first explore “target rich” habitats known to contain their preferred food. For instance, insect-eating birds might search in forest canopies, while wading birds forage in shallow waters.
If you want great success in your foraging, determine the “target rich” environments where you’re most likely to find your ideal clients. As Robert Schuller famously said, “If you’re hunting for moose, go where the moose are”. Don’t expect them to come to your door.
Always begin with the low hanging fruit. These are the prospects who know they have a need and are either looking for or hoping for, a solution.
Step Two: DETECT
Once a potential food source is located, birds need to confirm its presence and assess its accessibility and quality. This might involve closer inspection and use of specialized sensory adaptations, such as the keen eyesight of raptors or the tactile bill of shorebirds.
In business, not everyone who looks like a great potential client, meets your criteria. You may need to qualify them further before investing a lot of time with them. If they do indeed qualify, (meet your criteria), how accessible are they? How easy is it to get to the decision maker?
Most of us would love to secure “big accounts”, but a lot of folks go broke chasing the “big one” while passing by the smaller quality opportunities. It’s not a matter of one or the other. You just need to maintain your flow of core clients while simultaneously developing the longer-term opportunities. This is the lesson from Genesis 1:11-12 where you develop your short-term cash flow clients first (vegetables) followed by the long-term, big wins (fruit trees).
Step Three: CAPTURE
This is where the bird takes hold of the food item. It may be the result of hunting, gleaning, probing, scavenging or even fishing. Green herons actually use bait to attract fish. (That’s marketing!)
In business you may well use a “lead-capture” tool such as a landing page or a webinar registration page. Your bait could be a highly beneficial lead magnet.
For example, I’m doing a three day Selling Among Wolves Challenge June 11 – 13 where I will be giving away some of my best secrets. I’m hoping that many will register for that special event, and of those, some will want to join either my coaching or mastermind program.
By using a strong offer such as the free 3-day challenge, packed with profound Biblical strategies for sales and business, hundreds of folks will voluntarily come into my sphere to learn more. If they find value in the promise on my landing page, I will have captured their interest (and contact info) that I may begin to take the relationship to the next step.
Step Four: HANDLE
Once a bird captures its food, it neutralizes it and removes inedible parts such as husks from seeds or bones, etc. Some birds will use their beaks to break hard food items such as nuts or tree bark.
In business, once a prospect has stepped into your sphere to examine and consider what you have to offer, this is where you’re going to neutralize any objections, destroy any false beliefs, and present your offer like a fine meal.
Woodpeckers don’t peck a tree once and if no bugs present themselves, move on. They use their beaks to peck in rapid succession and keep pecking until they are successful in their acquisition.
This goes to the law of follow-up where 80% of sales are made after the fifth to twelfth follow-up, but 92% of sales pros give up after four attempts. Be like the woodpecker and persist until you succeed or at least until you realize they are not the right fit at this time.
Step Five: CONSUME
Once a bird has handled its food, it consumes and digests it.
In business, if you’ve done a good job neutralizing objections, destroying false beliefs, and presenting your offer to a qualified buyer with the authority to act, they will happily commit to integrating into your client base, making your business stronger and able to continue strengthening the value proposition for them and others in the future.
When the bird finishes its morning routine of singing and foraging, it spends the midday resting, preening and socializing. It’s the preening one that I plan to address in my next blog because it has a huge impact on the continued success of the bird.
If you want to succeed in life, be like the birds and learn to preen. Catch my next blog to learn what that means for you and me.
As always my friend, kindly share these posts on your social media if they resonate with you.
Until next time (when I cover preening), be fruitful and multiply!