Most Understanding Lord, I sometimes find myself asking, as my day begins and everything immediately begins to go awry … “Do You care?” Or, as I go about my day thinking everything is going fine and, all of a sudden, dark ominous clouds of confusion fill my mind and I ask myself … “Do You care?” When fear, doubt, grief come upon me like a flash flood and I’m deserted by all the people I count on, I question … “Do You care?” When I feel alone and see that no one cares about what’s going on in my life, I wonder … “Do You care?” On those long, hard days I sometimes experience, “do you look down with pity upon me?” Are Your arms folded or are they extended to receive me and calm all my fears and concerns? Is Your heart touched by the trials I am going through? Do You see the hardships I face and even want to help me overcome them? Are You concerned about me?
So why do I question Your loving care? Is it because I have failed to respond to other’s needs? Or, is it because I question my own motives when I do because they are not pure like Yours? This I have learned from our relationship together … that You are a faithful, tender-hearted, merciful and loving God. I have also come to believe in the Holy Spirit’s reassurance when He said though Peter, “humble yourself before God that He might lift you up in His time.” I am so thankful for this reminder that You are able and willing to bless me with Your goodness. Through humility, I am able to keep the faith regardless of what I am going through. I believe that, in Your timing, You will do the heavy lifting required on any problem I face. With Your help, I do not have to submit to my circumstance … instead, the one who controls them. You are my perpetual source of hope and promise.
So, I ask myself … “what do I need to do when the dark clouds of doubt and hopelessness come over me?” One thing I can do is submit to Your will and authority over my life. It requires my obedience, taking up my cross and following Your lead. I must also resist negative thoughts and harmful inclinations that cause separations between us. I must turn Your Word … listen to what it is saying to me … and, then go about doing it. I must replace my worldly thinking and desires with Yours who are good and pure. I must acknowledge the harmfulness of sin and strive to eliminate it from my life. I can no longer excuse my failings and flaws or blame them on others. And I must accept the fact that I am nothing apart from You. As a result, I’m seeing clearly that it is only through Your caring love and personal attention that my life is sustained each day. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
I Peter 5:7 Casting all your cares upon Him; for He cares for you.