I am a worrier and I guess most of us are. The words ‘do not worry’ and ‘don’t be afraid’ crop up repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments. But worry seems to be a quirk in our human make up.
I’ve been worrying a lot recently about a family member who has been very poorly. I keep rehearsing scary scenarios of what could happen and find the negatives all seem so real. But I am reminded that in Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus highlights this very issue. He and his friends are walking across the fields while he preaches and suddenly he focuses on the worries jostling for their attention, the cares we all have as we think about our loved ones or consider the future.
‘Do not worry about your life,’ he said, ‘what you will eat or drink or about your bodies, what you will wear . . .’ If he had stopped there, I would have skipped it because I can’t imagine I’d ever be able to stop worrying by my will alone.
But what I love about Jesus is that he always gives us a key. In this case, he says, ‘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.’
Jesus wants us to look at the things around us and says he will speak to us through them. I doubt the disciples even noticed the tiny birds and flowers as other things seemed far more important. I’m like that too, but Jesus wants us to be aware and to listen for his voice. He was pointing out that the birds are carefree. They don’t make endless plans and strategies or store food up, but God cares and provides for them. He wanted his friends to know that God was taking even more care of them, because they mattered to him.
I find it amazing that something so small as a tiny bird or wildflower can be a channel for God to speak through. His message was ‘You are much more valuable.’ (than the birds or flowers.) How beautiful! What an adventure life can be if we realise that God might speak to us through anything we see, smell, hear or touch as well as through His word.
So Jesus asks us to look with a listening heart. Today when I walked Marilyn’s guide dog, Arlo, I sensed Jesus encouraging me to watch Arlo as he ran to each enticing smell. He was carefree, living in the moment and delighting in the joy of running, playing and sniffing. I felt so happy as I witnessed his joy and suddenly the Lord said in my heart. ‘That’s what I’ve created you for too, to know you are loved, to live in the moment and be full of joy.’ Wow, what a gift!
I pray that today you will hear the loving voice of God bringing you encouragement and peace and know the power of your worries melting away.
