"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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin." Matthew 6:26-28
Outside of my living room window I have a bird feeder. It is a joy to watch the birds come and feed at the feeder during the warm months of the year. They seem to be very busy and industrious but free and unencumbered by fear or worry. The Lord commands us in Matthew chapter six to be more like the birds that He has created.
In verse twenty-five the Lord tells us not to worry about our lives. We are told not to worry about the day to day necessities and needs of our lives. The Lord tells us to look at the birds. The birds do not do all the anxious things that we do to protect our security. The birds work diligently, but they are not anxious and worrying in the midst of their activity. In spite of this fact, the Lord takes care of even the birds of the air! He says to us, "Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:26b) If God takes care of the birds, we can be assured He will take care of our needs also.
We can not always see the end from the beginning in the circumstances and events of our lives, but the Lord has our entire lives planned out from beginning to end. What is there to worry about when He is in control? We simply have to trust His goodness and leading. The Lord goes on to say, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27) Worrying accomplishes nothing. It does not add a single minute to our lives. In fact, anxiety and worry may subtract from our lives.
Worry is not good for us physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Worry is also sin. If we are worrying we are making something else more important in our lives than the Lord. What we are worrying about has become our idol and more important than God in our lives. When we worry it is sin, because we are not trusting God's promises to always be with us.
In this Scripture passage the Lord goes on to tell us to look at the flowers of the field. The flowers are not worried or anxious, but "not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." (Matthew 6:29b) If God takes care of all these things in His creation, will He not much more take care of our needs? We are commanded not to worry about our daily needs. The world is anxious about these things. We, however, have a Heavenly Father who cares for our needs. The Lord knows what we need better than what we do ourselves! The Lord's command to us is "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day had enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:33-34)
We need to trust out Heavenly Father, as a child trusts his or her earthly father. We need to cling in trust to our Heavenly Father. His grace and strength for us will never run dry. We need not worry about tomorrow, for the Lord has today and tomorrow in His control! We need to throw all of our worries on the Lord, and we need to leave them there. There is great freedom and joy in serving the Lord, if we are not engaging in needless worry. We can trust the Lord even if our lives are going through a time of upheaval. He is leading us and has the master plan for our lives. We serve and awesome God! Praise His name!
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