Articles
Casting All Your Cares on Him - 10.13.2024 Bulletin
Casting All Your Cares on Him
So the obvious verse to go with this bulletin title is 1 Peter 5:7, which says "Casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you." This ranks as one of the Bible's best known verses and for good reason. It's a comforting verse, and reminds us that God does truly care for us His children, and wants to show His love and attention to us. As humans, I think we sometimes forget that while yes, God is The Supreme Being and is all powerful, He's also not some distant figure that just demands obedience and gives nothing in return, He does care for our plights, big and small. The real point I want to stress is that when God says "all your cares", I believe He truly means "all", not just the big ones, or the ones we consider major.
I would never think to lower God to the level of a server in a restaurant, but have you noticed that when you ask them for a favor, it seems like second nature to say "when you get a chance" or "it's no hurry"? I believe that is a byproduct of our culture of general politeness: we know in our head that the waiter/waitress is being paid to, well, wait on the table. Yet still, customers generally try to be polite and not overbearing (that's the theory, at least). I do think that a rather considerate and courteous attitude to have, but does it sometimes spillover into our relationship with God? True, God doesn't wait on us and we should not expect that kind of relationship. But perhaps sometimes we go too far in the other direction, and do not beseech God for blessings often enough. James 4:2 says "you do not have because you do not ask." If you recall, when God was chastising David for his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, He said He would have given many more blessings if David was not satisfied (2 Samuel 12:7-8). And that was said while David was being reprimanded for sin! How much more do you think God wants to bless us when we heed His commands walk righteously instead?
James 4:3 however does explain that it is possible to ask amiss, and that is why sometimes we do not receive blessings. As we always say, "God won't give you a brand new Mercedes in the morning because you prayed for it." That's the key thing to notice. God say "cast all your cares", not "cast all your wants" as if God is a vending machine of blessings. As Christians, we are guaranteed to receive answers to our prayers, but sometimes the answer is not what we want. Sometimes the answer is "no". When Jesus prayed that the cup pass from Him if possible, the answer was "no". When Paul asked for the thorn in his flesh to be removed, the answer was essentially "no". We know that both Jesus' prayer and Paul's prayers were heard, but God did not give the desired answer.
So, how do we pray today? We're not going to receive a direct verbal answer from God like Paul did, so how do we know whether the answer is "no" or "wait"? And for that matter, how do we know if the answer being "no" means we should stop praying for something? I admit, I do not know how God makes His decisions, so I cannot fully answer. For a starter though, perhaps we shoulder truly consider what we are asking for. Is it something to help us improve our lives, and especially our faith? Or is it something truly frivolous that we are simply wanting to gratify ourselves? Praying for God's guidance in a work-related function seems appropriate, praying that your power comes back on after a hurricane also seems reasonable. Even praying that players on a football team be safe during the game seems reasonable. But praying that your team wins? Now it's getting frivolous. Praying the line at Firehouse Subs moves faster seems frivolous. I think it would also be helpful to really consider why you are praying what you are praying for.
As for casting your cares on Him, we should never think something is too small to mention, or that we should only "bother" God with the big things. Do we pray for safety during hurricanes? I should hope so. Do we pray to be prosperous and successful at work or school? I should hope so. Do we pray about some small anxiety we have lingering in the back of our head? Well, if it troubles you, you should pray for it. What about praying a routine doctor visit goes well? Praying that you be safe during an errand run? Some of these and others might seem too small to mention, but God said to cast "all" your cares on Him. Not just the big ones. How blessed we are to serve a God like that, and not like so many pagan gods we've heard of.
Written by Daniel Young
- Glad_Tidings_10.13.2024_PDF.pdf (4.07 MB)
