If You Give It, He Will Take It!

...casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

All your care: that means all of my fears, my despair, my hurts, my discouragements, my sufferings, my insecurities, my weakness, my wants, my needs, and whatever other baggage I have. Everything, absolutely everything.  This is what I'm supposed to cast upon God, with an expectation of him handling all of it, because he cares for you.

This was something I just couldn't fathom at one point in my walk with Christ. I mean, it was in the Bible, it sounded good, it was something I desperately wanted, but yet it was something that seemed so out of reach and it was because I was only seeing what I wanted which was the fulfillment of verse 7 and not paying attention to how God was telling me to go about gaining that fulfillment in verse 6.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6)

God expected me to go to him humbly, submissively, reverently, understanding that I needed him if anything was ever going to change in my life.  He expected me to come and give him everything, not just the things I wanted him to have.  And that's the key to finding the relief we are seeking from God. I will repeat something I said in an previous post which is probably something you will hear me say many times.  Our God is a complete God, nothing in him is lacking or fractured or partial.  And since it is he how made us these new creations it would only seem logical that we too should be complete.

The only way for that to take place is for us to cast our cares on him.  All of our cares.  Not just the ones that give us the most trouble and produce the most pain.  But all of the, even the ones we still enjoy and don't really want to see removed form our lives.  Everything must go.  It is time for us to unburden ourselves and let God take care of us.   It's time to humble ourselves, boldly approach his throne of grace, and give him the things he's promised to take care of.

I've done it and it works.  And that's not saying that sometimes life doesn't get the best of me, enabling those cares to find their way back into my consciousness, laying their weight back on my shoulders.  But, when they do, I remember that my God has been shouldering them for me for quite some time now and I bring them back to the foot of the cross where they belong.  I have laid my cares at his altar and he has taken them from me. One of my biggest burdens was waking up every day in prison.

This was something that threatened to consume me.  But now I wake up everyday as the state of Pennsylvania's prisoner but God's free man.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you haven't tried God and his promises then do so and you will see how amazing he is and how faithful he is.  He is waiting for you to realize how much you need him and for you to show him realize it by letting him take over handling the steering wheel of your life.  Once he does that, trust me, you'll never want to drive again.  Listen to what Peter wrote in this scripture and do what he says. If you give it, God will take it.

Prayer for the day:  Almighty God, you know how difficult it is for us to give up control over our lives, even our anxiety and cares.  Strengthen our faith in you so that we can turn over our worries and concerns to you and rest in your love.  Amen.