Matthew 6:25...Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. 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? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
tried not to check the nest too often...
tried not to scare the female off the eggs with the coming and going of daily life.
It was exciting to see the nest so full of healthy, well-feathered baby birds!! It wouldn't be long until the next stage...launch day!
The song of a cardinal is full of hope and joy and promise. It isn't a song of worry or stress or anxiety. These birds know what I so often lose track of...they are cared for by a heavenly Father, just like they were faithfully fed on Main Street by my earthly mother...dad too! My parents kept their feeders filled, and the cats scared away (ahh, the trusty cap pistol?!) One of their small extravagances was the bird bath heater they installed to be sure their feathered friends had year round water access. This little luxury always made me smile. I knew how they loved their birds. But they loved me more.
My heavenly Father apparently shares their sentiments, at least according to His Son's words, above, "your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" And all this bird talk in the middle of a longer bit of teaching about worry... as in, Don't do it, it's not necessary! In today's reading from Sarah Young's little book, Jesus Calling, I read these words about worry:
When you start to feel anxious about something, relinquish the situation to Me...redirect your focus to Me. I will either take care of the problem myself, or I will show you how to handle it. In this world you will have problems (troubles) but you need not lose sight of Me.