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 important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
~Jesus of Nazareth~
Are those just pretty sounding words or a prescription for living? Life comes with no guarantees except those ones having to do with death and taxes, so perhaps it’d be wise to reconsider Christ’s advice.
Reasons for anxiety are everywhere. We cannot watch the morning news without being assaulted by ugly headlines to accompany our bowl of oatmeal. The turmoil of the world is never-ending; car bombings, wars and rumors of war are daily staples of the storyline.
It seems that for the planet to keep spinning on its axis there needs to be full-blown parades of difficulties or troubles happening all the time. And they’re not just isolated instances occurring in far off places or someone else’s neighborhood.
Close to home we see family conflict that stretches across generational lines; relational chaos takes on a sticky life of its own and there are no easy answers to fix it. We desire to live in peace but get drawn into a loved one’s swirling vortex of emotions.
Or deadlines and commitments are looming which likely will not be met. We get stretched as far as possible and then take on another task or responsibility without considering the price to be paid or the tension to be endured in juggling time.
Then there are financial requirements and expectations in these times of economic uncertainty. Job loss or getting downsized or having funding cut is more often the norm rather than the exception. Tough stuff, but it’s all just life and life only.
Whatever comes our way, we must endeavor to persevere. From across the globe to the home-front, we all have to come to terms with varying levels of worry or distress. You can read another perspective here: Angst & Edgy Feelings.
Life is an iffy proposition, with a multitude of situations that we have little or no control over. Maybe, just maybe Jesus was onto a tremendous idea when he directed us to our heavenly Father and proposed that we trust him.
Wonder what we’d learn about the nature of our lives if we actually took a long, prayerful look at the birds of the air.
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