The birds of the air and the hope of your heart

As I sat down to write this article, I looked at the computer for a few moments and wondered how to start. I typed a few words, hit backspace, then tried again.

Writer’s block is part of life. Whether you are writing a paper for school or a report for work,

there are often times where you stare at the computer screen and feel as if your mind is stuck in quicksand. Though our minds might struggle to find words to write, our minds rarely struggle to muster things to worry about.

The daily call of worry

Think about your last 24 hours. As you woke up this morning, what worries came upon your mind, maybe even before you sat up and rolled out of bed? As you went to bed last night, what worries antagonized you and, like an itch that you could not scratch, refused to allow you to get comfortable to enjoy a good night’s sleep?

Make no mistake, there are times and circumstances in our lives that are particularly painful and acutely troublesome. These particular trials and worries are understandable. But I am talking about those regular worries that each day brings us.

Worry is the language by which our hearts tell God that we don’t trust him.

Thankfully, the promises of God’s Word speak a better word than the worries of our fearful hearts.

Look to the birds

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His audience:

“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? 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. 6:25-26)

Have you ever realized that the birds fly across the sky and nest in the trees in your yard in order to remind you of the goodness of God?

Martin Luther spoke of this passage, “Whenever you listen to a nightingale, therefore, you are listening to an excellent preacher…It is as if he is saying, ‘He [God] has made heaven and earth, and He Himself is the cook and the host. Every day He feeds and nourishes innumerable little birds of His hand.”[1]

Next time your heart is beset by worry, go for a walk. Allow the birds of the air to remind you that God loves you. Take a deep breath and reflect upon past mercies that the Lord gave to you as you languished in worry. When you feel as if you don’t have the words to adequately communicate the worries of your heart before God, humble yourself before Him and prayerfully acknowledge that He who knows the number of hairs on your head knows the depth of the concerns of your mind.

If you have dreams for your life, but you are saddled by debt and facing unflattering job prospects, look to the birds and allow them to remind you of the goodness of your God.

If you are on a fixed income and the rising cost of living continues to threaten your checking account, look to the birds and allow them to remind you of the goodness of your God.

The proof of God’s care

But don’t just look at the birds of the air. Look back to the cross that Christ endured in our place. Our Lord has met our greatest need in this life and for all of eternity when he atoned for our sins on that old rugged cross.

Our Lord Jesus who shed his own blood for us, how will He not graciously give us all that we need to trust and glorify Him in this life?

Dear Christian, if you can trust God with your eternity, you can trust him with today and tomorrow. If you can trust God with 10,000,000,000 tomorrows, you can trust him with the next ten hours, ten months or ten years that are coming your way.

As I sat down to write this article, writer’s block sat down beside me. But as I paused to reflect on the truths of Matthew 6, I realized that though our worries incessantly bother us, our Lord is unflinching in His provision. The birds know this – won’t you let them show you that God is good and you can trust Him?

Stephen McDonald is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Scituate, MA.

[1] Martin Luther, The Sermon on the Mount trans. by Jaroslav Pelikan in vol. 21 of Luther’s Works (Concordia, 1956), 197.