God Cares for You
Have you ever had hard time trusting God? You know God’s bigger than the Thing before you. You know He’s been faithful in the past. You know your problem is that your faith isn’t big enough—not that God isn’t big enough.
But, you still have a hard time fully releasing the problem into God’s hands.
Such was the beginning of my week. The possibility of misunderstandings, wounded friends, and missing God’s blessing smothered my attempts to trust the Lord. In spite of my efforts to place it all in the Lord’s hands, sleep eluded me the night before the big meeting. Once again I yielded it all to God, but still lacked the peace I sought.
Then God showed up. I can’t share the detail, but I watched in awe as the Lord took care of one concern after another. A dozen or so fears, which were all tangled together, were addressed one after another. And God did it all—without me needing to champion any of them.
Everything isn’t fully resolved yet, but my faith in a living, caring God certainly has been renewed. Rather than being anxious, I’m now watching with hopeful expectation to see what happens next.
This week has deepened my understanding of God in some foundational areas.
- God is with us. When we don’t experience His presence, we need to check our focus, rather than check His faithfulness. He never leaves us. He’s waiting for us to yield to Him so He can act on our behalf.
- We’re told to not be anxious but to give our requests to God, and that God works all things together for good. Anxiety shows a lack of faith, but my heightened worry led to diligent prayer, which led to increased faith. He worked it for good in my life by driving me to my knees. Consequently, I watched as He did so in the bigger picture as well.
- Fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (Jas. 5:16). A sleepless night doesn’t represent my picture of a “righteous man.” And then again, in my anxious hours, I may have been as righteous as I’ve ever been. I was keenly aware of my depravity and of my total dependence on the sovereignty and goodness of God. In my need—because of my need—I certainly prayed with greater fervor.
- The Lord delights in us—and in showing Himself strong to deliver us. He waits for us to trust Him and give our cares to Him. He said, “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him” (Ps. 22:8). Yielding to Him precedes His delivery, rescue, and delight.
This week, because of what seemed to me to be a crisis, I’ve felt the Lord’s delight in me. In response, I’ve delighted in Him. And, I want to camp in this place of intimacy.
I don’t want to lose it, but I know life and distractions happen. However, I hope I can live a life that is more committed, more trusting, more yielded, because God never changes, and He cares for me.
How has the Lord met you when you struggled, but finally committed your way to Him?
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