Fretting Over Food

This morning I’m standing in the kitchen looking out the window into the back yard. After these last storms I refilled the birdfeeder in the tree and this morning there are a couple dozen birds trying to get at it. There are birds of various colors and shapes. They must be hungry because the feeder is already half empty.

As I watch one bird in particular I notice that she is resting near the feeder, but is not moving in for the food. This particular bird is constantly looking about to see if another bird has any aggressive plans. It looks left, then right, then high, then low. She repeats the motion over and over again. Left, right, up, then down. Then again. Then yet again.

Suddenly a larger bird swoops in and lands near the bird I was watching. The larger bird did not intend to run my bird off, but my bird panicked and flew away. After a few minutes the larger bird flew off and my bird returned to his familiar spot. Once its feet were secure it started the previous routine again; left, right, up, down. Finally, feeling it was safe, my bird jumped onto the feeder and took a few rapid pecks at food then quickly flew back to start his look out routine again.

As I watched I wanted to yell out, ‘It’s safe! Feel free to feed on the good food!’ But I know I’m no bird whisperer and my bird would not listen. I’m not a creature birds pay attention to. If I ran out there to tell them all is fine they would all simply see me as a threat and fly away. I have that effect on backyard birds.

The birdfeeder teaches us a spiritual lesson. My bird was choosing fretting over food. She chose to fret about possible dangers around her and spent way more time focused on potential problems then on the nutritious food right in front of her. She spent so much time in worry and fear that she missed out on a full meal of Home Depot feed.

Philippians 4:6 challenges us to, ‘Be anxious for nothing’. That’s a pretty definitive amount; nothing, zero, zilch, nada, none. Apparently there is no circumstance in which we find ourselves that calls for fretting. When we find ourselves with a lack of funds, a layoff, our car breaking down, relational discord, receiving a mean tweet or offensive post, or in any such situation, we are to not respond with anxiety, fear, or worry.

How do we accomplish life without fretting? The above verse goes on to say, ‘but by prayer let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God will guard your heart and mind…’ See practicing prayer brings God’s peace. Peace is obtained when I spend time in focused prayer. But fretting keeps me from the food of peace. Worry and fear are blockades to prayer. It is darn near impossible to fret and pray at the same time.

This year let’s spend more time focusing on the food and less time fretting. Let’s jump on the food of prayer and God’s peace. May we not spend so much time looking left, right, up, and down that we miss the great spiritual food ready for our souls. Make a decision to practice prayer regularly, so the possible threats of life will never consume us. May we not live a life spending more time fretting than feeding.