trbccoffeebreak

“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? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? …”  Matthew 6:26-27 (ESV)

A quiet morning with refreshing breezes – what a sweet relief after a steamy, summer.  The view from my patio was the best ever. Deep blue skies and a few fluffy clouds.  Off in the distance, I watched as they flew, soared and dipped across the sky.  Effortless, carefree chirping – how I wish I knew the song the birds sang.

Don’t know about you but I’ve never seen a frazzled, stressed out bird.  Even uttering those words makes me laugh. With calmness and ease fluttering through the air, they soar to great heights. With joyful songs, they perch on my rose bushes and welcome me each morning. In quietness, they land on our fence enjoying cool breezes. And the truth is they have absolutely nothing. No home. No guaranteed food.  No protection. Totally vulnerable yet completely dependent on their Creator.

Wonder what life would look like for us if we followed suit and trusted God for all we need? Instead of attempting to achieve, conquer and provide for self, we would rely on Him.  In place of worrying, fretting, stressing out and anxiety filled moments, we would release our burdens to Him.

Love the reminder from Matthew 6  – worry and anxiousness never serve us well or achieves our desired results.  We can attempt to manipulate. We can spin our wheels trying to accomplish the impossible. We can exhaust our bodies and minds while our circumstances still remain the same.  God is the only One who can handle, alter and orchestrate the heavy loads we are attempting to bear. Our all-knowing, all powerful God knows exactly what we need and when we need it.  He reminds us in verse 26 that we are His valued creation, and He will take care of us.

Wow!! Let those words settle in deep.  When worry or anxiousness seeks to slay us, we can bring our burdens to the Lord and leave them there.  We can land flat on our face pouring our hearts out to God confident He hears and will act on our behalf.  We can be encouraged by reflecting on God’s past faithfulness and clinging to His word.  We can moment by moment resist the tendency to accomplish and resolve it all ourselves.  And when the enemy attempts to stir all those negative and worried thoughts to the surface, we can sing God’s praises and silence the voice seeking to defeat us.

Those who choose to place their faith and hope in God will soar. They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).  Our strength will be renewed, and He will put a new song of praise in our heart.  I can only imagine the songs we will sing when we confidently rest in God’s care, provision and wisdom.  The sweetest sound ever welcoming the unknowns of another day yet fully trusting in His sovereign plan.

“Sweet Jesus thank You for treasuring us and choosing to meet our every need.  Thank You for reminding us to lay our burdens down and walk away in peace and confidence.  Praising You for being more than we ever need to navigate this journey.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life