Matthew 6:26-34
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? Or What shall we drink? Or What shall we wear? For after these things the Gentiles seek. For you heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
I was headed home from church Wednesday evening at about 9 pm. As I turned down the dimly lit road that leads to my house something caught my eye. I slowed down to a halt and flicked up my high beams. There was a field rabbit in the middle of the road. His eyes stood there a moment and then he turned and desperately hopped away, trying to escape the beams of light that gave away his position. I slowly proceeded behind him until he jumped off the road. I remember just seeing him there was a pleasant surprise and I began to think of how God must be trying to tell me something. Then suddenly something else caught my attention.
There just ahead at the edge of my headlights we two glowing objects. Once again I slowed down and the familiar form of a young opossum came into view. I stopped the car and we watched one another for a few moments, then he feeling it was safe, crossed the road in front of me and disappeared into the brush. Then like a small voice I heard Matthew 6:26 in my mind, “Look at the birds of the air,” or the rabbits in the fields and the possums in the bushes. Do you see how I have cared for them? Can you see how I am caring for you?
I know you are wondering, wow where did he get this from seeing two different kinds of potential roadkill on a dark road? But you see just a few weeks ago I was trying to wade out of that area in flood waters that were up to my chest. I had my wife, son, two dogs, and a cat that I had to get safely out of our flooded home and to a place where they could be safe and get dry, and have some food, and a place to sleep. I did not know what laid ahead for the future. I did not know what tomorrow was going to bring. The only thing I knew then and it is what I still know is Matthew 6:26-34.
It is amazing to me that the Lord knew me before I was even born, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jeremiah 1.5). In Palm 139 David even says that the Lord not only knows us but has an intimate knowledge of us. “You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out y path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” You see the Lord not only know us before we were born, but he also stays in complete knowledge of what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. He supports us, and protects us in all circumstances. He provides for us under all conditions. He is not surprised by what we do, or where we are, or what happens in our lives. Knowing all of this about us and our life, he still chose to save us.
For those of us who have already believed on his son, Jesus Christ, he has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Ephesians 1:3-4) You see this is our joy! We praise God for what he has already done! We already have ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS! This is not of our own doing but just the complete love of God towards us.
This is how much more important that we are then the birds of the air! We worry so much about things that we don’t need to. We allow our joy to be stifled by the cares and concerns of this world. What is going to happen to my house? How am I going to get to work? What will I wear? What am I going to eat? All the while the Lord is saying, “Be still, let me be God”. ” Am I the Lord?” “Am I the Lord of YOUR life? If you have trusted me for salvation, Can’t you trust me with everything else?”
This is what I saw when I saw the rabbit and then the opossum. I saw the Lord showing me that he took care of those two critters that were somewhere fighting to survive in the same waters that my family and I was trying to survive in. They were alright. They were being provided for. So were we, thanks to the Lord of our life and the God of the universe who cares enough to know what my need is and provide for it. That makes me feel confident it Him.
The Way of Christ Ministries 