Milk – Eggs and Worry

That is why I say to you; don’t worry about living—wondering what you are going to eat or drink, or what you are going to wear. Surely life is more important than food, and the body more important than the clothes you wear. Look at the birds in the sky. They never sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Matthew 6:25-26 Phillips

As a native New Englander I confess that we do brag a lot about our toughness when it comes to winter. We laugh uproariously at stories of school districts in the South shutting down because of a couple of inches of snow. But no matter how many winters we have lived through our response to snow falling on our own street stays the same. “Honey, can you run to the store and pick up some milk and eggs?” Despite the logical conclusion that hens will keep on laying and cows will continue to give milk, we go into panic mode! No matter how tough we pretend to be, Jesus knows us all the way to the core of our fearful hearts. He sees that no matter how many times He has provided daily bread and protected us through long cold nights that at the first sign of a storm we act as if God might not take care of us this time around.

But if we watch the birds as Jesus tells us to do, we’ll notice that none of them stay up late at night looking for seeds to pluck from the bushes or worms to pull from the ground. They simply fold their wings, tuck their heads and drift off to sleep.

They somehow know that tomorrow will always dawn with all they need to get by. So whether you are wondering if there will be milk and eggs at the store when the snow melts or panic buying toilet paper in the pandemic, what counts is not on how tough we are, but who we are looking to for help. If we look to Jesus we will be amazed to discover once again, that the same God who is an expert on feeding birds, knows exactly what we need today!

What me Worry?

Worry is something just about everyone on the planet does; but why? “Don’t worry, be happy.” is pretty snappy but on the face of real life stuff its about as useful as a screen door in a submarine. Rather than spending time researching why not invest some time looking at what God has to say?

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31 ESV

I have found that the best recipe for worry is to set aside focused time alone and just sing. To take a line from the not too theologically correct movie ELF – “The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” Today’s video draws comfort from singing some songs to bring you cheer. I hope they make somebody’s day a little brighter! Blessings

Lilies of the Field

Matthew 6:28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.

If you are like me maybe you been doing more some worrying off and on during this pandemic. We wonder if our family members will get sick or what is going to happen to our nation. We worry about going to the grocery store and wonder when we can go to church again.

The people listening to Jesus were not so much different than us. They had plenty of their own troubles – like corrupt government officials extorting them for money – the threat of getting leprosy that could put you in social isolation for life and a strict religious system that might get you kicked out of the synagogue for even listening to Jesus. So Jesus didn’t just say; “Don’t worry; Be happy!” Instead He talked about lilies. These weren’t the lilies we associate with Easter or the garden lilies we are familiar with but were flowers that grew wild in the fields of Galilee.

That kind of blossom reminds me of the wild flowers in the farm fields. Generally they were unnoticed while the hay was tall since they grew in the shade of the taller grass. But once the fields were mown and the hay made into bales their tiny yellow, purple and red blossoms put on quite a show. My job being to stack the bales I got the delight of a great view of them from my perch high atop the hay wagon as we road we back to the barn.

Since Jesus said to consider flowers as a stress reliever I thought that today it might be fun to just share some flower photos from my morning walks. Have a blessed and unworried day safe on the top of God’s hay wagon as he steers us slowly back to His barn!