What if one of the reasons the Lord tells us not to worry is because He wants us to look up and remember who He is?

As I sit outside in my backyard, my worries begin to fade. I can’t help but notice the Lord’s faithful and trustworthy character as I hear the birds singing and see them gathering.

I am immediately drawn to the Scriptures and the Lord’s instructions about the futility of allowing our attention to be carried away by the many trials and anxieties of life.

I hear the Lord whisper, “Don’t worry about those things, what you need for your body, or anything you think you need. I’ve got you.” He is reminding me that I am cared for, and that worrying is not needed or effective in changing anything about our circumstances.

He is not saying to be avoidant or unaware of the trials each day carries. Instead, He is telling me to keep my eyes on Him and remember that He is my provider. He knows every bird and every flower, and He has provided for their needs. How much more does He care for us?

When we take these moments to look at our first love, Jesus, and seek first His kingdom through meditation on the Word, prayer, and intimacy with the Lord, all the worries seem to become background noise.

I’m not in denial. I’m just present, pressing in, and wanting more closeness with the One who has called me by name.

And I will glory in my name being written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Scripture

Matthew 6:25–34 (ESV)

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.