Birds

We have been in Colorado for a couple of weeks and one of my favorite pastimes and entertainment is feeding the birds in my backyard and watching them flit around. In the winter we have a metal staff hanging right off the porch that is not only accessible for refueling the feeder but makes the bird-watching up close and personal.  The birds range from finches to chickadees to stellar blue jays…and it is amazing to me how they almost immediately know when the feeder has been originally put out and then when it has been refilled.  

So as you can imagine, I often times reflect on nature and the intuitive sense that God gives his wildlife and how he supplies their needs in whatever the environment that surrounds them. 

The verse below is familiar to most of us and it is the one most quoted when something unexpected lands in our lives and on our hearts.  Something out of our control and abounding in possible scenarios that are often unnerving and fretful.  The “what ifs”… or “what next” or the “this is overwhelming and something I cannot possibly handle” especially alone. 

I have been there and pretty sure you have been there too.  But the truth is: we are never alone.  But how often do we reflect on these verses below?  Truly believing in the word of God, and its truth, and faithfully trusting that it applies to you and to me?  

Matthew 6::25-34“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 

And we know that worrying cannot add one day to our lives, oh but it sure can steal our joy, trample our peace, tangle out nerves and tie our stomachs up in knots….if we let it. 

Its is hard when tough situations come barreling to the front and center of your life. Many times, they are unexpected and not only pull you off of your normal routine, but they seem to land us in unfamiliar territory making it difficult to determine what the next step to be taken is.   

Or worry can be a daily emotion regarding finances, relationships, hard decisions, or trying to determine comfortable and tangible outcomes (on our own). So many times, we forfeit the ability to seek the guidance and wisdom of someone who already knows all the answers.  

We worship a God who we cannot physically see or hear, but God hears us and sees us….and knows what he has allowed to come our way, what we are dealing with, and how to faithfully approach it.  

We look at our situations through a finite lens; things and people we can relate to here on earth based on the resources that are readily available.  Our scope is continually limited, oh but God in his wondrous and magnificent grace is unlimited, and HIS ways to help us overcome our hardships are far beyond our comprehension and many times seem out of line with what we can imagine.  

Christ is there at our every prayerful request to give us strength, wisdom, and courage to forge forward. Just as he cares for the precious birds of the air, are we not even more worthy of his   loving oversight?  Someone once told me to not wait to begin a relationship with Christ until I need him, but begin to be dependent on Him in the good times and secure that relationship through trust and faith so that when the tough times comes…. your trust and faithfulness will already be tested and proclaimed.  I believe them to be right.  

Matthew 10:30-31And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

May you trust God today, and perch on HIS promise that he loves you, cares for you, watches over you and helps you. He is always there as we take flight on what is before us, and gives us wings to fly above our circumstances and land in his nest of safety and security. For with his help, we can and will overcome the worries that try to keep us from soaring to heights of peace and contentment.    

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!

All past emails can be found at: Cathyjodeit.com (Contents Page)