Thought for the day – Monday 8th June 2020
Things I like to do….
This is the last in a series of “Thoughts for the day” using four of my hobbies, all of which I have been fortunate enough to continue despite the Covid-19 lockdown. They all give me the opportunity to reflect and ponder on my faith.
Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
Do Not Worry
“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?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
As soon as we get into February the seasonal cycle of gardening begins again. This year for the first time we were still using onions grown last year at the time we planted this year’s crop.
During this period of lockdown, lawnmowers have been heard more, weeds have had no chance, and vegetable beds have been dug over and tended more meticulously.
My bee hives have been humming and it is reassuring to see that the inhabitants have survived the winter and are now increasing in numbers.
I am very much a “hands off” apiarist! However it is fascinating to see how they develop from eggs the size of a pin head, to white grubs and then fully formed bees, each one integral to the functioning of the hive, and ultimately to a harvest of about 20lbs of honey per hive.
I don’t worry, (too much) about what is going on in the hive. I have learnt from painful experience that my own anxiety and worry, when handling them, can be detected by the bees.
Worry is not good – it immobilizes whereas concern stirs us to action
When we worry it can consume our thoughts, negatively affect how we treat others and it reduces our ability to trust in God.
So like my beekeeping technique, let us not worry for God is in control, let us trust in him.
Prayer
Creator God, turn our worry into concern, our anxiety over own needs into thankfulness for all you provide, and our doubt into wonder at the immensity and intricacy of your creation.
Amen