Birds of the Air

“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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25-27

I was going out of town recently for a photography job: a wedding in February. Most weddings are not held in the winter, so there’s no need to worry about weather and travel. Since the wedding was in my former hometown, I had also planned to visit friends, amongst other things.

As the date approached, I kept watching the weather forecast. It looked like snow there Thursday, and then snow here Friday, making my departure time unpredictable. And, as many of us know, weather itself is unpredictable.

Two days prior to my planned departure, I stopped in our church sanctuary. The only light came from behind our stained glass windows, and I sat in the back pew. I thought I’d pray for peace and release from my anxiety. Even though it’s winter, as I sat down I heard birdsong.  A LOT of birdsong…the kind we often hear in April, signifying spring’s arrival. I immediately thought of the verse above. A sense of peace came over me, and I thanked God for his faithfulness in that moment.

Postscript: I traveled north without any weather-related concerns, and had a great weekend.

Prayer: Dear Lord, calm our anxieties when the future is unpredictable. Remind us that it’s always unpredictable, but that You are constant...constant in comfort, peace, and love. Amen.

Donna Gustafson