Thoughts on the lilies of the field and birds of the air

It's a lovely, cool, overcast morning and I'm enjoying coffee in the gazebo today, knowing that there won't be too many more cool mornings before the heat of the summer sets in. From where I am sitting, I can smell roses and honeysuckle, and see ripening peaches and corn plants rising, and the blooms of calla lilies, larkspur, bachelor's button, hollyhock, sweet peas, poppies, nasturtiums, and pink Mexican primrose. Tecoma, coreopsis and blanket flower are beginning to bloom and soon will be the major source of color as the summer begins. There are a surprising number of small birds busy among the flowers, looking for seeds or nesting materials I'd assume.

I'm reminded of the passage in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells his followers to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air:

25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
²⁸"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹"Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I tend to worry a lot, especially when reading the news, which thanks (or no thanks) to technology is possible to a much greater degree today than in the days when we were limited to the morning newspaper and the nightly news. Observing life in my garden this morning reminds me of God's concern and care for my needs, and for those of His creation. If God lavishes such abundant beauty on flowers, which will soon burn up in the summer's heat, and provides food for the birds, should I not be reassured that my needs will be supplied?

A second thought I had this morning- the flowers wouldn't be as beautiful and the birds wouldn't be enjoying the nourishment they provide if I hadn't planted, fertilized and watered, and pulled a lot of weeds. I think God expects humans to work in partnership with Him in caring for His creation, and that's what He meant when He told humans to "replenish the earth" in Genesis.