“AaaaAAAAHHHK!” my daughter shrieked. “DaaaaDDDYY! Get UP here!”

I knew what was wrong: a moth. Every spring, an armada of these dusty insects migrates from the plains of Nebraska to the mountains of Colorado, where they summer. Each year, we brace for their arrival. This year had been especially bad.

To humans, miller moths are unwanted pests that often fly right into your face. But to birds, well, it’s a feast. Doing a little research, I learned that the moths provide incredible nutrition for the region’s swallows. As annoying as they are, these moths are veritable moth “manna” for the birds.

I don’t know if Israel had moth migrations in Jesus’ day. But Jesus took note of God’s provision for the birds there, saying in the Sermon on the Mount, “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?” (Matthew 6:26).

So these days, I look at moths differently. Not as dirty pests, but as winged reminders of God’s provision for His creation—and as a living metaphor for His provision for me, too. If God provides so richly for the swallows, how much more does He care for me and for you?