As I write this I can hear a little bird singing praises outside of my window. He flies from branch to branch and rests at the very tip top to have a good view of his surroundings. The thought has crossed my mind before that I wish my life were like that bird. With a “big picture” view and ability to soar without the distractions below to get me off course. What if our lives were more like the birds?
 

Last December I listened to a Revive Our Hearts program titled “How to Steady Your Heart.” The Lord knows that this is a constant struggle I have. I often live life in a constant tizzy – flustered, always going, never stopping and without peace in my inmost being. This is completely contradictory to the peaceful life Jesus calls us to live in Philippians 4:4-7. Paul tells us this exhortation:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (emphasis mine)

Paul then goes even further in the following verses and tells us exactly what to think about daily. His list includes whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise. To “think on these things” literally means in the Greek “to reckon inward, count up or weigh the reasons and to calculate.” Our minds should be constantly analyzing and enjoying the good and perfect things of God from dawn to dusk. God dwells in our praises. Worry pushes Him out. Elisabeth Elliot, wife to Jim Elliot who was killed as a missionary, said this about worry: “Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you.“

For me to leave my worry in the Hands of Jesus takes a great deal of trust. It requires a set of spiritual eyes that see past my circumstances that are smack dab in front of me. In the Revive Our Hearts program, Nancy Leigh DeMoss shared about a woman named Bobbie Wolgemuth who os battling cancer. As I listened my heart was broken for the physical struggle she has been facing. But then she said these words that struck my heart to the core. Bobbie said “Birds don’t worry, they sing.” Throughout her cancer treatment she has chosen not to worry, but rather to sing! God dwells in the praise of His people. It is when we choose to sing praises and not worry that we encounter the unfathomable peace of God.

I believe that words have much power and that we should fill our homes with the truths of God. It is the writings on our wall that will remind us of our purpose and the Great God that we serve. With Bobbie’s gracious permission, I have painted “Birds don’t worry, they sing” and will have it available in 8×10 prints and stationery in the Life Lived Beautifully shop. I pray that this print would hang in your home and be opened as a card by many and that it would remind you to sing praises to God, for He dwells in a heart of praise and not worry.

He is worthy of our songs, even in the darkest hours of our life. Bobbie is a living testimony of this truth. Let us sing with her and make melody to a God who lives and loves us fiercely! Watch Bobbie’s video testimony here!

Singing With You,

Gretchen