If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Matthew 6:25-26 MSG
What if we were to be like the birds?
Here’s a story I recently heard from one of my bosses, Blake: He was driving down the street and looked up to see a large group of birds flying together. There wasn’t an order or formation to their group; they were clustered together and numbered more than he could count. He watched as the birds flew and quickly changed direction multiple times. If one bird moved to the left, the whole group went left. If one went right, they all went right. It happened almost instantaneously. The massive group just knew which way to go based on one single movement.
As Blake watched, the Holy Spirit spoke to him so clearly. What if we were to be like the birds? If God goes left, we go left. If God goes right, we go right. What if on just a whisper, we said a quick “yes” and went wherever He was going?
The passage above from Matthew shows even more what it means to be like the birds. Our surrender to Him actually means freedom for us. When we say “yes” to Him, it’s on Him to take care of everything. We don’t worry about having enough because He knows what we need. The birds are our example. The scripture tells us that the birds are free and unfettered, meaning there is no restraint or restriction on them. There is nothing that isn’t available to them. They aren’t tied down to a job description. They get to be and do whatever God says. They are careless in the care of God.
What if we actually didn’t worry about having enough of what we need? We are meant to be set free of those worries because of the cross. Our burdens are not ours to bear, but His. What if we knew every single thing in heaven and earth is available to us because our Father rules the world? Nothing can tie us down because of the freedom that has already been purchased for us. How would this revelation change the way we live?
We can lay down our worries about money, security, relationships, our futures, and everything that keeps us up at night because our Dad knows it all and has promised to take care of it.
Being careless in the care of God means we have so much room to breathe. We don’t have to be concerned about our well being because it is in God’s job description, not ours, to provide for us. We can lay down our worries about money, security, relationships, our futures, and everything that keeps us up at night because our Dad knows it all and has promised to take care of it.
What’s more, the Bible says we are worth far more to Him than birds. If this is how the birds are, we shouldn’t just be like the birds, we should be more free than the birds. We should be the most free things in all of creation. We should be so free to just listen to God, do what He’s saying, and be exactly who we were created to be without worry of what might happen because we can be careless in His care.
I believe some of you may be asking yourselves these questions today:
What if I move somewhere new and never find community?
What if I quit my job to pursue my dream and I can’t make it financially?
What if I never find someone to share my life and start a family with?
What if I trust someone with my heart and they let me down?
What if I thought God had this for me but I was wrong?
Hear this: God knows what you need. He will never let you down.
The freedom we have in Him is a sweet and powerful gift. Let’s surrender to Him and claim the freedom that He’s just waiting for us to take hold of. Then, let’s soar.
Author | Kalli Drake
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