Matthew 6:25-26 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

I can honestly say, without any exaggeration, that I have read this scripture thousands of times. I taped it to my bathroom mirror for the better part of a decade and read it many times each day. It was a MUCH needed reminder that I need not worry, that God had everything under control. I was raised to be fearful and to ask all the “what if?” questions until I was left anxious and depressed. It has been a lot of prayer, daily effort and retraining to learn not to worry. As my husband would say that is naturally how my “marble rolls”. I needed to form new grooves in my brain so that my “marble would roll a new way.” I am still a work in progress. I have to actively choose not to worry when there is opportunity, but every day I am more aware of how unnecessary fretting is. Every day we each grow stronger and learn to trust God more when we surrender; when we allow him to be on the throne and rule over our circumstances.

Back to the scripture….as I said I have read this so many times, but I realized an aspect of it the other day that had never occurred to me before. I love that the Bible keeps showing us new wisdom no matter how many times we have read the scriptures. Another detail of this scripture became crystal clear to me. God could have picked ANY creature to use as an example. He does provide for ALL of us afterall. God specifically chose the birds of the air. I had never realized the importance of this before. You see humans toil for our food because of the fall of man, but we plant, harvest and store up. 

Genesis 3:17-19 cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; ¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground

With God’s help we have to work pretty hard to sustain provision for ourselves. Manna is no longer falling from the sky. Even if you are not a farmer, you work so that you can have money to exchange for food to feed yourself and you rely on farmers to grow crops for you. The birds don’t do ANY of these things! They don’t plant, harvest OR store up. They operate in an on-demand relationship for their needs.

Let’s move onto another animal group that again God did not choose to use as an example in this scripture. There are many animals, like the busy squirrels, that work hard all summer to store up food for the winter months. They work diligently to store up God’s summer provision so that they will survive the harsh season ahead when there will not be any food available. They do not plant, but they are all over the harvest and storing up aspect of their own sustenance.

How about all the animals that hibernate, like the bear? If I am honest, I have always been a little jealous. I enjoy sleeping and the idea of taking a several month nap sounds AMAZING! And to wake up having lost all my winter weight – EVEN MORE AMAZING! Alas that is not to be for us humans. God designed hibernating animals’ bodies to be able to diminish their physical activity, lessen caloric needs during the winter season and thus sustain themselves on their own body fat through times where there are no resources. Hibernating animals do not plant or store up, only harvest during a specific season.

The birds however are quite busy DURING EVERY season. (We have to factor in migration so that they move to areas that can provide them with more resources, but they are busy every day of the year.) The birds have to COMPLETELY rely on God to provide for them. They don’t PLANT. They don’t STORE. They don’t HIBERNATE. They are actively gathering food EVERY single day and relying UTTERLY on God’s provision.  I think the birds trust God more than we do!! If we had nothing planted, nothing to harvest and nothing stored….and no other human did either….I think it would be reasonable to say that we would ALL be FREAKING OUT! So the next time you read…. 

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

Think about how much the birds DO NOT WORRY about God providing for their EVERY need. They DO NOT WORRY for their very existence! This is what God is asking of US. If we threw away all our own ability to provide for ourselves, would we truly trust God to sustain us? That is EXACTLY what this scripture is commanding of us. It is a level of faith that most of us have never experienced. The birds still gather their food, they still have to do what they are capable of, but they are not anxious about God not providing for them.

I challenge you today. Right here and right now to put a stake through anxiety. Trust that God will provide. Let go of fear once and for all. This is what God truly wants for all of us.