Daily Devotional

All of us have gone through times when we have wondered where God was or if He had time to care for us.  With over 8 billion people on our planet, we might feel that we are rather insignificant to the Lord.  But just the opposite is true.  God knows everything about His creation and cares for every aspect of it…us included.  He knows when a sparrow falls, and God tells us that we are of much more value than many sparrows.  (Matthew 10:29–31)  

The Apostle Peter tells us that God cares for us when he writes in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”  God cares deeply for each of us.  Literally, Peter is saying, “It matters to Him about you.”  We as God’s children are objects of His care and love.  He watches over us with great interest and affection.  God is interested in every detail of our lives.  The things that are of concern to us are of concern to God.  No matter how large or small.  God wants us to know that He is always there, and it matters to Him.  

Warren Weirsbe in his commentary on 1 Peter states that there are four ways in which God shows us His love and care.  I would like to share those points with you and include my thoughts about each of them.

1.“He gives us the courage to face the stress-producing problems of our life honestly and not run away.”  (Warren Weirsbe)
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

It is difficult at times to deal head-on with the areas of life that produce stress for us.  We often run away from them or medicate ourselves in ways to relieve the pain or fear that we feel.  We need to recognize through God’s Word that He is there with us, and He is upholding us in those difficult times.  He holds us with His righteous right hand, the hand of His strength and power.  He will never abandon us but will always be there in our time of need.

2.“He gives us the wisdom to understand the situation.”  (Warren Weirsbe)  
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”   James 1:5

When we face the problems and cares of life, we need to be able to see them for what they really are.  We need God’s wisdom to understand the situation and see it truthfully.  Often stress and fear come as a result of not seeing things clearly.  We tend to look at things from a skewed perspective.   Only God’s wisdom can bring understanding and reality to what we face in life.

3.“He gives us the strength to take action.”  (Warren Weirsbe)  
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”   Philippians 4:13

Instead of being frozen in fear or inaction, God gives us the strength to do what needs to be done.  In those weakest moments, God is there, and He gives us strength.  God loves to show Himself strong in our weakness because then we give Him the glory for what He has done.  We know it wasn’t about us but about Him.  In our times of fear or stress, we need to always remind ourselves that God is here right now, and He wants to give us strength so we don’t have to be stressed out or afraid.  We can trust Him always, even though we don’t understand, and He will hold us up in His strong right hand.

4.“He gives us the faith to trust Him to do the rest.”  (Warren Weirsbe)
“Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.”    Psalm 37:5

As we trust the Lord with all the cares of life, we can have the confidence He will take care of all the things that are beyond our control.  We can be thankful that nothing is beyond His ability to control.  Often our problem is that we can only see this moment in life.  God can see and knows everything from eternity past to eternity future.  He sees the big picture.  We need to commit to the Lord what we know and understand now with the confidence that He will do the rest.  As we trust Him with our present and future, we will experience a lot less stress and fear.  We can know that God always has our best at heart, and we can trust Him.  

I appreciate what the Psalmist writes in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”  God invites me to cast or throw my burden onto the Lord.  In other words, I can entrust it to the Lord who deeply cares for me.  My burden is the portion God has given me to bear.  I am so thankful God encourages me to give them to Him.  He wants to bear the load of life with me.  He doesn’t make fun of me, tell me I am such a spiritual weakling, or tell me just to suck it up and go on.  He invites me to give my burdens to Him and He lovingly takes them.  As a result, He keeps me from becoming disturbed, shaken, or unsettled in my faith.  I grow in my faith and confidence in Him as I trust Him with the cares of my life.  

Prayer:  Lord, help me to understand how much You care for me.  My life is in Your hands, and I trust you with it.  Help me to accept your invitation to give You my burdens and not hold onto them.  Thank you for the strength You will give.  Amen

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.