Green Grass and Flowers - Devotions for 4-3-24

Matthew 6:28b-29 “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

            I love spring, that is when here in Denver we can finally say that spring has really arrived! Meaning, it is warm and sunny and there is no snow in the forecast. A day like today. Today feels like spring has really come. Yeah, there might be more snow on the way sometime in the next month, but it is finally warm and sunny, the grass is green, and the early flowers are blooming. It is a nice day for a walk in the park, or to sit in the sunshine in the yard.

            When Jesus was giving His most famous teaching, what we call the Sermon on the Mount, He gave a lot of general advice about life. He talked about salt and light, treasurers in heaven, how to pray, how to help others and here in our text, about how not to be anxious.

            Are any of us anxious? Am I anxious? Do you have fears or worryies? I fear that the answer to that is that we all have anxieties of some kinds and especially at different points in our lives. Even though I like to think of myself as a stable and unflappable person, I have to admit to being anxious about different things. We all have anxiety about some things in our lives.

            So, Jesus, in His great wisdom, points to some very simple things to remind us how we should be looking at the things that bother us. Consider them as the tiniest of things. Jesus points to the birds of the air and to the flowers of the field. He points us to look at springtime. Spring is when the birds return and are singing the most and when the grass and flowers just jump up turning green with bright, beautiful flowers. So, consider spring when you are anxious.

            Why spring? Because you and I cannot do anything to make it happen. We can endure winter, but we cannot make the season change. We cannot create rain or make it get warm outside, we can only enjoy it when it happens. We cannot make the grass grow, we can only smile when it turns from brown to green. We cannot make the daffodils bloom, we can only take in their beauty when they do.

            The thing about anxiety is that we focus on and worry about the things that we usually cannot control. That causes us to worry. Thinking about what we cannot do to control what we cannot control robs us of our peace. It is usually the things that we have little or no control over that cause us the greatest anxiety.

            So, Jesus points to things we have no control over at all, the birds and the flowers of spring. The birds come because God sends them. The flowers grow and bloom because God causes them to. We cannot make spring happen, only God can.

            So, look to the things that God makes happen and sit back and enjoy them to help your anxiety pass. Watch spring jump up all around you and rest in knowing that you had nothing to do with it at all, God did it for you. Then look at the areas of your life that are bothering you and remember that He cares about those too. Know this, He who made spring come to the world around you, cares about every detail of your life.

            That is how to handle anxiety, let God handle those areas of your life while you wait and watch for the birds to return and the flowers to bloom, without your help.

            In whatever is causing your anxiety, look for the Lord. He will cause the flowers in them to bloom, and He doesn’t need you to do it. Rest in His work on your behalf. 

Pastor Gary.