Casting Cares part 2
You know the old saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff." Well... to God it's ALL small stuff. And I'm not saying that it doesn't matter to God. As a father myself I can tell you, if it matters to your kid it matters to you. I'm saying God-- LOVE-- is so big that there's nothing He can't handle. I'm saying we can cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. I'm saying, "Daddy's got your back." You are never ever alone. On the cross God took up abode, or dwelling, in you. He moved in and He's never moving out. Another old saying (or maybe it's a song), "Nothing you can do, could make him love you more. Nothing you can do could make him shut the door." God knows the end from the beginning. Nothiing takes Him by surpries. He's never scrambling to figure out what to do in response to what you do. He knows what the answer, the solution, is. It's love. It's Him. That's why He gave Himself FOR us and gave Himself TO us. He didn't want us running around like chickens with our head's cut off, trying to figure everything out. He gave us the answer. He equipped and empowered us to live His life by living His own life in us, and through us, and as us! He conquered, and made us MORE than conquerors in Him! He overcame, and made us overcomers by His blood and our (His) testimony! He did it all so we could get it all. He fought the war to end all wars so we could stop fighting. So we could start resting. Remember the parable of the sower? Mark 4:19, "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." We cast our cares on Him so they don't weigh us down or choke us out. It's so easy to get caught up in STUFF. Especially when it's right there on the surface, screaming for our attention. But that's when it's vitally important to be still and know that He is God. That's when we have to set our affection on things above, and not things on the earth. SET our affection. A preacher once said, "Your mind is like a goat, it'll eat anything." So we have to control our diet. We have to be selective about what we feed our mind... because we are what we eat. And listen, I think a HUGE part of not getting caught up in stuff is NOT looking for a fight. I've never seen people more ready to fight--over everything and anything--than "church folk." Religious dudes. We think we need to "defend the Bible," or "defend the Gospel." When really the Bible, the Gospel, God, LOVE, defends us! He is OUR shield, OUR refuge. He doesn't need us to fight for Him. In fact, Jesus said people would know His disciples by the LOVE they have for others. So I guess what I'm trying to say is: Be a lover, not a fighter. Don't worry about it. It's not your job to fix everything. It's your job to love people. Don't sweat the small stuff, or the big stuff either. Take a breath. Put your feet up and REST. Daddy can handle it. Daddy ALREADY handled it. It is finished!