Stress?

I'm sitting in our sun room this morning, watching the birds coming to our bird feeder. We get all kinds of birds. Chickadees, Slate-Colored Juncos, Nuthatches (both Red-Breasted and White-Breasted). We get Cardinals and Mourning Doves and Woodpeckers - Downy, Hairy and even the occasional Piliated Woodpecker. My wife and I love to watch them fly to and fro from our bushes to the feeder and back again. They don't have a care in the world!

Why can't we humans be like that? For one thing, we'd never fit in the feeder!! Actually, I was talking about their demeanor. They don't care about anything at all. No feed in the feeder? No big deal. I'll just go to another feeder or to those berry bushes over there. Water in the bird bath frozen? Who cares. I'll just fly over to the state park. There's always open water by the culvert between the two lakes. No biggy. Why don't they care? Probably because their brains don't really think that way. But you know what? It's really because God provides for their every need .

But I think we need to take a closer look at out feathery little backyard friends. God has provided examples of His wisdom and knowledge right there for us. All we need to do is watch and learn from some of their God-given characteristics.

Have you ever noticed what birds do when storms hit? They disappear. Ever wonder where do they go? They head for cover, that's where. Every once in a while we will see a bird in our bird feeder during a rain storm. Usually they are not eating, they're just sitting there, waiting out the storm. Birds seek shelter when they encounter storms in their lives.

Have you ever seen a bird sitting in a tree on a really cold day? I have. They look bigger or should I say fatter, that they normally do. Ever wonder why? It's because they puff up their feathers to provide more warmth for themselves. It's their form of insulation and protection against the cold.

So what do we learn from our little fluttery buddies? Well, during this hectic holiday season, with all of the Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, Christmas parties, travel arrangements, the list goes on and on and on. We must remember to take time to pray, to read His Word and to worship. Doing so will prepare us for any storm that happens to come our way.

We should not worry about your daily needs because God will provide for every one of them for us. And if we turn off the television, filled with those commercials telling us all of the things we absolutely NEED, if we insulate ourselves from worldly desires and influences, I am willing to bet that we would find ourselves feeling warmer and cozier than we have ever felt before.

There is great protection and comfort to be found in the arms of our Savior. We need to seek Him out whenever we encounter storms in your lives. Seek Him out ALWAYS! And in that way we will be prepared for whatever comes. He will protect us from the evil one. All we need to do is ask.

"28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

"25 “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? 26 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? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:25-34