Kingdom Alignment Part 12 | Online Bible Institute

At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Alignment,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.

Last week in our Kingdom Alignment series, we talked about a very important word: therefore. Jesus had been teaching us that we cannot serve both God and money, and then He said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.” Because we belong to the Father, because He is our source, and because our lives are under His loving care, we do not have to live consumed by worry.

This week, Jesus teaches us something very practical about learning to trust the Father: we learn to recognize His faithfulness. And one of the places Jesus tells us to look is creation.

Matthew 6:26–30 (NIV)
26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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?

Have you noticed something about Jesus? When people are wrestling with complicated things, He often points them toward very ordinary things. Seeds. Trees. Sheep. Children. Bread. Vineyards. Birds. Flowers. Because the Kingdom of God is not hidden only in complicated ideas. Evidence of God’s goodness is woven into the ordinary world around us.

Jesus says, “Look.” Look at the birds. Look at the flowers. Pay attention. Jesus invites anxious people to become observers. Our world trains us to notice everything that might go wrong. Jesus trains us to notice what is true. The bird outside your window becomes a reminder: The Father provides. The flower growing beside the road becomes a reminder: The Father cares. The sunrise becomes a reminder: The Father is faithful.

Psalm 19:1–4 (NIV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

Creation does not replace Scripture. Creation reminds us of the God revealed in Scripture. The Father who feeds the birds is your Father. The Father who clothes the flowers is your Father. And most importantly, the Father who cares for creation is the Father who loved you enough to send His Son for you.

This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.

Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.