The other day I was trying to not worry about money, budgeting, car repairs and all of those kinds of fun, "grown up" responsibilities, which really led to more worry and worrying about worry. Then I was reminded of a verse about fear and worry... Except all I could remember was something about "not even a sparrow."

I was reminded as some random bird sang very loudly outside my window. It was the kind of chirping bird you hear early in the morning and not the kind you want to hear when you're trying to concentrate on worrying.

"Stop it, God." I thought.

The bird sang louder.

"I see what's going on here. It's not going to work." I thought louder, to drown out the bird.

The bird broke into a complicated Beethovenesque melody.

Unbelievable.

I finally gave in and looked up the verse I was so faultily remembering. It actually says this,

“What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries. (Matthew 10:29-31 MSG)

I'm not saying conquering worry is as easy as reading a verse but it was a powerful visual for me. God knows exactly what's going on even down to the fate of a canary.

I like the way the English Standard Version pinpoints specifically who's in charge. It says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. "

It's easy to get tunnel vision and believe that our lives are so full of complicated cracks and crevices that no one else can understand or navigate. It's a necessary reminder that if not even a bird can miss a step without God deciding, whatever I'm dealing with can't be out of His reach.