Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. (Psalms 55:22)
We begin with a verse today that echoes the words of Peter that we closed with in Monday’s blog. The psalmist knew God could be trusted. Peter knew God could be trusted. Do we know this truth and do we live it out in our daily lives?
In the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus gave us the instruction not to worry, He argued from the lesser to the greater. He said if God cared for the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, how much more would He care for us. We need to remember that God cares for everything He created and that includes us and when we do, we will be more than willing to cast our cares on Him.
There is another important point from that sermon we need to keep in view, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life” (Matthew 6:27). In other words, worry is a thief. It captures our time and wastes our energy without the ability to help or change the circumstances we are facing. Worry has no power to prevent anything bad or produce anything good in our lives no matter how much time we spend doing it. Here are just a few of the damaging effects of worry:
- Insomnia
- Daily fatigue
- Ulcers
- High blood pressure
- Indigestion
- Heart palpitations
As a pastor, I have learned the sad truth that on many tombstones could be etched this epitaph: DIED OF WORRY! Worry is having a divided mind and a divided mind is as destructive as it is deadly. So, can you identify any of your “worry” triggers? Does any of the following resonate with you: feelings of powerlessness; when you feel vulnerable; when life seems out of control. When you identify some of the triggers you can be ready to respond appropriately with casting your cares on your Lord before they have time to crush you under the weight of worry.
Remember, worry is a choice. You can choose to worry or you can choose not to worry by trusting in the One who can be trusted and has proven to be trustworthy in the past. In choosing not to worry, you are not suppressing those worrisome thoughts. Rather, you are sharing them with your Lord who has promised to sustain you.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 