Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from Psalm One Hundred and Forty Five, verses 15 to 16, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing,” (NRSVB). This praise psalm of David rejoices in God’s loving-kindness towards all the created things. God knows what the creatures of the earth need to survive and thrive. He has ordained the seasons and the times of day and night, these regulate the life cycles. Plants, animals and people need rest, shelter and nourishment and God supplies these continuously. The birds are ministering to humans as they sing their songs, collect the food they need throughout the day and, with a last song of praise, settle on their nest before night falls. “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works, the entirety of things created,” verse 10, (Amplified Bible). The world was created as an open space, there were no walls and fences, the mountains and rivers served as natural barriers. Animals and humans travelled to find food, migrating according to seasons. Animals in the wild are adapted to find food; however, domesticated animals need to be fed. They wait with great expectancy for their food and usually utter some animal noises to thank those who bring them nourishment. Somehow, most animals seem to be quite satisfied to eat the same diet day in and day out, and after receiving nourishment, they are content.
Humans are concerned about the nourishment they receive, the clothing they wear and the spaces they occupy. They are rarely content with what they have. If we were able to enjoy what we are given and realize that having food, garments and shelter are gifts of grace, we would be able to have more peace in our innermost person. In the Letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul writes in Chapter 4, verse 19, “And my God will liberally supply, fill to the full, your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” (Amplified Bible). Increasingly people have been conditioned to worry about so many things. Worrying about things that we cannot change will cause us to become despondent and anxious. Throughout the scriptures we are commanded and urged not to be afraid and not to worry, for God knows what we need, and he knows how to fulfil our needs. In these uncertain times, where we have seen so many changes, and are experiencing so many challenges, we need to learn a lesson from the creatures that roam the skies.
“Jesus said: Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds,” Luke 12 verses 22 to 24, (NRSVB). During the time that Jesus lived on earth he healed the sick and spoke words of life to those who lost hope. He was deeply concerned about the people and their needs. Jesus used stories and examples from nature, and the creatures God created, as models of joyful waiting on the goodness of God, with the sure knowledge that their needs would be met at the right time. God understands the concerns of humans; he knows how fragile life is and how quickly circumstances can change in this world. It is still his world, and he still has the whole world in his hands. God has assigned infinite value to every human, each one is unique and of immense worth to him. Let us look up to God and wait for him to give us the desires of our hearts and to fill our needs with his bounty.
Father, we must confess that we are anxious beings! Give us your peace, we pray, Amen.