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)
Food and Faith
My grandmother ALWAYS gave me King Peppermints. These are a Dutch treat, and Gramma was a reliable traditionalist. Go to Gramma’s. Get candy. Depend on it.
She had established a trustworthy pattern that led me to count on her generous kindness.
Jesus would have my attention already if He pointed out that God has provided for the needs of His people. We eat. We drink. We are fed, ultimately by HIM. He has fed me my entire life.
If I decide NOW to worry about my foodly needs, I look either silly, very negative, or too hungry. I can have faith about tomorrow’s meals because He has established Himself as a reliable traditionalist.
Of course, there MIGHT be a situation where, for the good of His people, I might need to be hungry. But that is not the kind of anxiety Jesus is warning against. (He warns against THAT kind of urgent emergency anxiety elsewhere.)
God has taken care of you. And He will tomorrow, too.
We can cling to that faith not only because He has proven Himself regarding His provision of US. But He also provides for flighty, non-industrious, silly, carefree, happy-go-lucky birds.
If He provides for them (and He does…) He obviously will provide for US, too.
God is not only concerned about the rise and fall of Kings, the rise and fall of Ideas, the rise and fall of Civilizations, and the rise and fall of Atoms and Stars. He is also concerned about the tiny meals of tiny hummingbirds, the tiny needs of lazy snails, the tiny plans of carpenter ants, and the tiny actions of electrons changing orbits.
Comfortably in the middle of that array of God’s interests is us.
He also proved it by providing for us through His sacrifice of His only begotten Son. (John 3:16) On the one extreme, the birds. On the other extreme, His Son.
So don’t worry… God will take care of us.
Take the faith God gives us.