Gardens and Feeders and Squirrels?! Oh My!

“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

To say that many of us are in places of limbo right now would likely be a massive understatement.

While limbo can look like all sorts of different things, the one thing every state of limbo has in common is the temptation and justification to worry. I mean, when would be a better time to begin getting anxious or concerned than when you are surrounded by uncertainty or are awaiting breakthrough?!

My current limbo is a living situation limbo. Being between selling the home I’ve been living in for the past year and moving into a new apartment, this week I find myself staying with some very generous friends. And although all of my needs are being met and I’m even having some time to catch up on rest, the tendency to worry is real.

I don’t know about you, but I have found great beauty and delight in sitting very still and staring off into space lately. Thinking about absolutely nothing. I was doing just that in the backyard of this beautiful limbo-home the other day and I was completely distracted by the birds.

Donna has created a little oasis in her backyard garden for the birds of Richmond Hill. I’ve discovered that she has some regulars: a pair of mourning doves, some little yellow finches, a red-headed house finch, a He Cardinal and a She Cardinal. Just this afternoon, she was telling me that rather than trying to get rid of the squirrels, as most people recommend, she would rather give them their own special little place to eat. Not only does this woman have bird feeders AND a bird bath, she has special places for the squirrels to eat too!

As I’ve sat back there and watched the backyard theatre unfolding daily, I’ve found my delight in these creatures growing. I love that they all have a place to eat and they truly bring me joy!

My breath caught one day as Holy Spirit reminded me of this passage from Matthew 6.
Are you not much more valuable than they?

In the midst of The Unknown, pausing and listening for this gentle reminder seems to lose importance. Even when we do recognize its importance, taking the time away from “figuring out all the loose ends” feels impossible!
Rather than telling us that everything around us will get sorted out or that everything will be better, Jesus reminds us of our value and worth. He pulls our attention away from our surrounding circumstances to consider the nature around us instead! He gives us fresh perspective and even offers us a convincing logical argument!

At the very end of Matthew 6, after he’s drawn our focus back to our Heavenly Father and his great love for us, Jesus says this: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”