See How They Run

I am back with the continuing saga of the black squirrels. Although I thought that they hibernated for the winter, I guess nobody told them about that, because I see them every day busily running back and forth, and up and down the tree across the road, regardless of the bitter cold and blowing snow.

All of this activity provokes many questions in my mind, and more so because of my concern for the well-being of these squirrels that I have come to know and care about over this past year.

First of all, where do these busy little creatures find food to eat? I am sure that they cannot remember where they hid all of the nuts that they spent the summer continually burying. Even if they could remember, how could they manage to get at them in the frozen ground underneath all that snow? Where do they hide in the bitter days of winter? As I pondered these "earth-shaking matters", a light suddenly went on in my brain. I was forgetting something very important:

Matthew 6:26a – Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. (AMPC)

If I truly believed that Scripture, why did I have all of these questions?

It struck me that there is much that we believers can learn from my questions about these furry little creatures. What they do by natural "instinct" — created in them by our heavenly Father — we human beings must learn and then choose to do.

Matthew 6:31 – Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? (AMPC)

Verse 32b clearly answers this concern: "Your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all." (AMPC)

God has His part to do, and we have ours, which is clearly stated:

Matthew 6:33-34a – But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow. (AMPC)

While I have been writing about my concern over the squirrels, I realize how well these verses apply to the concerns that I have in my own everyday life. I know from experience that God provides for my every need, so there is never any need to worry. Jesus understands how destructive those worries can be in our lives. In these verses that I have quoted, His Word commands us to look at God's sure and faithful provision as the antidote to our worry.

How amazing are the simple ways that our Lord chooses to teach us! What might seem so complicated to us has already been solved by Him. All we have to do is listen for His whispers and obey His instructions.

Prayer: Father in heaven, how we love You! We thank You for Your Word and how it teaches us to trust in You and Your plans for us as Your children. Teach us how to pray and to seek Your guidance in Your Word every day. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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