Lesson from the Sparrow

I sat in my yard and watched a sparrow hop around looking for seeds.  Her head was hardly higher than the blades of grass that surrounded her.  She was tiny, fragile, and vulnerable.  Yet she had plenty.

Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus delivered a famous speech we now call “The Sermon on the Mount.”  It was written down by one of his closest followers, a government worker named Matthew.

In it he addresses the topic of worry and anxiety:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. 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 which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

In another speech (recorded by a doctor named Luke) Jesus said something similar:

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

This sparrow in my yard was not a fool.  Had I so much as stood up she would have flown away to avoid danger.  Yet, I sensed no anxiety in her.  She did not look worried or even fearful as she confidently pecked away at her meal.

Picture from Wikipedia

We are so quick to worry.  We fear what our future will look like despite the fact that none of us will ever be in the future.

God is watching over you.  This does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to you.  In fact, if you are following Jesus you are pretty much guaranteed to have trouble as He clearly stated, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”  The comfort is that you do no need to be anxious.  You do not need to worry.  God is in control, “and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

Yet perhaps you are not convinced.  If the wisdom of Jesus and the writings of His early followers is not enough to get you to stop worrying, then look at your own life.  Reflect on the times you have worried.  Remember walking around with that ball of fear in your chest that made you feel sick.  Did all that anxiety help?  If so, then by all means, continue to be worried and let fear improve your life.  If not, perhaps you should listen to Jesus and take a lesson from the sparrow.

Well His eye's on the sparrow
And the lilies of the field I've heard
And He will watch over you and He will watch over me
So we can dress like flowers and eat like birds

-Rich Mullins