The man was married to a woman who was a worry-wart. All of her daily exercise came from pacing the floor and wringing her hands. Unfortunately, the health benefits from wearing a hole in the carpet were diminished by her inner turmoil of anxiety. And one day, her frustrated husband flat-out asked her, “Dear, why are you always worrying when it doesn’t do any good?” In a flash, she shot back: “Oh yes it does! Ninety percent of the things I worry about never happen.”
Oftentimes, what we worry about never even happens. And, according to Christ’s teaching about anxiety, we typically worry about tomorrow’s food or fate (cf. Matt. 6:34). We often fret over our futures and become overly concerned about how our needs will be supplied. And to conquer worry, Jesus did not teach us to retreat from life like hermits or fill our medicine cabinets with prescriptions. Instead, and remarkably, Jesus told us to look at the birds.
Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life . . . Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matt. 6:25a, 26).
Think about what birds do. They clock in early looking for food—there’s a reason they say, “the early bird gets the worm.” And they work hard for their meals. You’ve probably seen them pecking the ground and gathering worms to bring back for their young to eat. Not to mention, they constantly fly around collecting branches and bristles to build and maintain their nests. And at nightfall, most birds sleep until they repeat the process the next day.
Now, think about what birds don’t do. They don’t worry or even store food for the future. And yet, their food-needs are always provided for. This is because, in the order of creation, God has ordained that they get their food through natural processes. Feeding the birds of the air is on God’s to-do list.
And the point of Jesus’ teaching is this: if God cares for the least of all His creation, then He will certainly care for the greatest of His creation—you. God cares for birds—the least significant creature in all of creation—so you can rest assured that He cares for you, the most significant creature He ever made. If He never forgets to feed robins, cardinals, and blackbirds, then He isn’t going to forget to feed you. That is why there is no reason to worry. The deep and personal level of God’s care for you diminishes worrying about your life, your future, or anything else.
The devotional column above is from my newest book, 40 Days with Jesus, which is a forty-day daily devotional focusing on the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus. This book is available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon:
Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.
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