Casting my cares
The last few days have been hard and I know there are harder days to come. But, amidst it all, the Lord is teaching me. A few people have asked me lately how they can pray for me. It's a loaded question when I feel the weight of so much going on in our lives, on top of remembering sweet Alivia, missing her and grieving her loss. So, I sum it up by asking for prayer that the Lord would enable me, by His power, to trust Him with all the details of life right now and that I would cast my cares on Him.
I have felt the prayers of others in this area. There have been numerous times over the past few days when I am anxious, my heart is heavy, I feel no joy in my salvation, am discouraged, and want to give up the fight. It's usually when I have been thinking about one or many of the challenges facing us right now. However, I have been reminded to CAST MY CARES and that I am not doing so. So, I pray and give it to the Lord because, quite frankly, with many of the things, that's all I can do. Yes, I can strive, add to my "to do" list, try to do more, sleep less, push through with some things, but not all. And with everything, I need to TRUST. Most things are entirely out of our control and that is hard for me because of my pride. I want to see things change, want to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it's just pitch black right now, except for the sight of Heaven. So, that's where I'll keep my gaze! And for the blackness that fills so many areas of life right now, I'll seek to trust. I don't have answers, don't know why, am feeling completely helpless, but I'll trust! May God enable me to do so.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7
"And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12:22-34
