Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Casting my Cares onto Him!



Psalm 84: 12 says:
O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you

Today, I pray I am that “wo-man.” Today I pray I am the one who trusts Him. I am so tired of being afraid. I am so tired of letting anxiety ruin my days. I have lived in fear for too long. For years I have struggled with the agony of anxious thoughts about my health and the health of my loved ones. I really have to stop. Otherwise, life is truly just going to pass me by to find me cowering in a corner at the end…when there’s not much else to be done…not much left after all the days are gone…gone and spent paralyzed by fright…

Instead, today, I want to really, truly, give it all to Christ! Today, I want to do as the psalm says:

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you… 
(Psalm 55: 22a)

Well, of course, as a creature of the 21st century whose main language is not English, I’m not very sure what “to cast” means, so I looked it up. And according to the all-reliable Google dictionary, it means: “to throw something forcefully in a specific direction.”

I love this definition! I especially love the word “forcefully.” This action implies far away and intentionally…like something repulsive that you don’t want near you. The part about “a specific direction” also got me…it got me when I thought that the direction is the Lord, Himself. He actually wants us to toss all our disgusting stuff that we can’t bear to have near us onto Him…onto His Holly Self…how is that possible?

The Barne’s Notes on the Bible says on this topic that:

if we feel that we have no strength, and are in danger of being crushed by what is laid upon us, we may go and cast all upon the Lord; that is, we may look to him for grace and strength, and feel assured that he will enable us to sustain all that is laid upon us. The relief in the case will be as real, and as full of consolation, as if he took the burden and bore it himself. He will enable us to bear with ease what we supposed we could never have done…

If that is not love, I don’t know what is…He cares so much for little ole me, that He wants me to feel the comfort of His Power in my struggles even though I am nothing. And He does it, mainly, because He wants my undivided attention. Like the Pulpit Commentary says:

The care which is forbidden is that anxiety about worldly things which harasses a man and distracts his mind, so that he cannot compose himself to prayer and holy meditation.

That’s exactly right! When I am submerged into one of my anxiety zones, I am totally distracted. I have a hard time NOT thinking about the object of my anxiety. Therefore, I take my eyes off of Him and it becomes a constant struggle to return my thoughts to His presence. He does not want that for me or for any of His children, so He wants us to throw that thing that distracts our minds forcefully into His direction, so we can exchange it for His strength!

How Great is Our God…How Great He is, indeed!

Please Lord, help us to learn to truly, truly cast our cares on You, for we know and trust that You will take care of us, no matter what!

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