Updated: Oct 14, 2021
Are you a Christian who worries a lot? Jesus wants you to learn to depend on Him and overcome worrying. He wants us to live worry-free lives. Some may wonder if that is even possible, especially since worrying has become part of our vocabulary. We say things like, “That’s reason to worry?” as a way of justifying our anxiety. But Jesus' approach is quite different from what we usually hear from self-help experts.
Consider this: When Jesus talks about worry-free living, He does not draw attention to anything but His Father’s work in creation. He does not tell His listeners to “drink and forget their problems” (Proverbs 31:7) as that would be for those who are perishing. But for us who are being saved, we live by a different standard. He doesn’t tell them to turn to self-help or positive thinking; instead, He tells them to look at God’s work in nature. He tells them to look at the birds of the air. So, what exactly do we learn from birds about worry-free living? Let's take a closer look.
“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).
They Don’t Sow
The first lesson we learn from birds about worry-free living is that birds live entirely dependent on God for their provision. Since birds were not created capable of sowing seeds, they have to depend entirely on God. They either depend on what man has sown or what God has provided in the wild for all other creatures to eat. Either way, birds remain entirely dependent on someone else for provision. Their entire life supply is provided by another. “All creatures [birds] look to you to give them their food at the proper time.“(Psalm 104:27). We, too, must learn to depend on God entirely if we’re going to overcome worrying. We must not trust in ourselves but in God, who gives both the seed and the harvest.
They Don’t Reap
Since we “reap what we’ve sown,” birds do not reap because they do not sow. They not only depend on God for their food, but they also utterly depend on Him for good. They have no means to reproduce or multiply food. God does that for them. So, they are completely dependent on God to provide everything they will ever eat.
They Don’t Store
No sowing means no reaping, which means no storing. That’s why birds don’t store away in barns for the future. They are utterly dependent on God for the complete process of food production. If God does not provide, birds will not eat. Other animals may store food, but not birds. They eat each day what God has provided.
It’s interesting that birds, despite being unable to sow, reap, and store, are also unable to pray and ask God to intervene in their situations. Even more interesting is that they don’t seem bothered by it. They just wake up in the morning, sing praises to God, look for food, eat some bugs and grains, and sing some more. They are confident that God will provide.
You’re More Valuable
If birds, who do not sow, reap, store in barns, or even pray, are cared for by God, how much more will He care for you and me? Here’s a rhetoric that shatters all worry: “Are you not much more valuable than they [the birds]?” Absolutely! Far more valuable, as He entrusted us with the care of all His creation. He will care for our needs completely because we’re His children. God cannot care for the birds so well and ignore His very own children. That’s the point Jesus is trying to make, and that’s the lesson He wants us to learn when we look at the birds of the air. Next time you are tempted to worry, look at the birds and remember the love of the Father.
What are we telling God when we worry? Please drop us a comment. I hope you never look at the birds of the air the same way again.
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