National Geographic estimates there are between 50 billion and 430 billion birds on Earth. Whether or not you believe they are actually government-controlled spies, birds such as eagles and swans possess a majesty that makes us stop to observe their creation. The complexity of their feathers, the power of their flight, and their natural instinct to travel together all point to a kind and caring Creator.
In Matthew 6:26, Jesus reveals the formula for combatting anxiety by stating, “Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
Mental health and anxiety are complex. Faith certainly facilitates healing, but sometimes the excessive or inadequate secretion of chemicals in our brain requires medical assistance. God has equipped people with the gifts and ingenuity to use science and research to help one another, and that can still bring Him glory.
Here in Matthew 6, I believe Jesus is addressing the undercurrent of worry that stirs the heart of every person – fears for the future, fears of others’ approval, and fears of incompetence. It is in these moments where we indulge the worry of our flesh that He encourages us to consider the sparrows.
When God created birds in Genesis 1:20, He placed them in a perfect paradise, the Garden of Eden. Then God created humankind which sinned. After the fall, God very well could have destroyed His creation. But He didn’t. Instead, despite our sin and brokenness, He cares for us. He consistently gives us far more than we deserve through the outpouring of His grace. He cares for the sparrows.
Look what the Word says:
Who prepares for the raven its nourishment when its young cry to God and wander about without food? (Job 38:41)
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! (Luke 12:24)
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the [a]air come and nest in its branches (Matthew 13:32).
I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine (Psalm 50:11).
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they lift up their voices among the branches (Psalm 104:12).
A final encouragement: from Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Wait for the Lord. He is worth it every single time.
