shadow

trust

Who Cares?

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:7 NLT

Woman_comforting_young_woman, Who Cares?“I don’t know why I’m even bothering to tell you this, I mean it’s not like anybody cares,” screamed my new friend! “Just because I got into trouble, nobody will help me! They won’t even listen!”

Sometimes, as a result of our histories, we find it hard to believe that anyone else cares about us. We may have made poor choices and we start to worry about our stuff. After all, if we don’t who will? But worry won’t bring about the changes that we really desire. Changes that bring about the belief that someone truly cares about us comes from our willingness to place our trust in the hands of someone other than ourselves. However, we often hesitate to do that because, like my friend, people have let us down in the past and will likely also let us down in the future. So we plod on in our struggle until we become overwhelmed. Read today’s Dose verse.

God cares for us through all of our struggles. When we really believe this, we turn over our anxieties and concerns to Him. But we also need somebody “with skin-on” in order to help us along our path to complete trust. It can sometimes be difficult for us to totally trust God after what we’ve experienced and come to believe. He has provided for that need.

Once we initially trust Him as our Savior from sin, we can grow our trust in Him as Lord of our lives, by pairing up with someone who is farther along in his or her walk with the Lord. This would be a mature Christian—somebody from whom we can actually learn to trust. They take the time to listen to our struggles, pray with us, show us Bible verses that speak to our situation, and show us how we can apply them in our lives. They share some of their own struggles and how God has shown them that He cares.

It’s been several years since I had the conversation that opened this Dose. I simply told that young woman, “I’ve been in trouble before too and I’ll listen to you.” God did the rest. He allowed me the privilege of being a godly example in her life and He opened a willingness in her heart just wide enough to trust someone by faith.

God’s care and concern is so much greater than we could ever imagine or possess! He’s listening!

Are you trusting in His care for you today?

By grace through faith,

Rita

 

Jehovah-Jireh

Posted on: by: Comments: 2 Comments

“And Abraham called the name of that place, The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’”

Genesis 22:14, NASB

3407962551_66748ef3de_b-750x567Tossing and turning, I fretted about a financial situation. Sleep eluded me in the wee morning hours as tears wet my cheeks. I wrestled to rest…

God will provide.

Suddenly, quietly, this thought eased into my mind and heart. I’ve no doubt it was the Holy Spirit, gently comforting me with this timeless truth.

Jehovah-Jireh.

How long have I understood this aspect of our marvelous God? Years upon years! Yet I still need reminding every so often because I’m, well, I’m human. Life ratchets up, pressures mount, and despite the faith God has planted in me, sometimes I wonder. I worry. I weep.

All the while, God holds me in His tender hands. He knows everything and wisely cares for me–He provides for every need. My elevated concerns and attempts to control matters don’t prompt Him to action. Rather, God provides for me…

because that is who He is.

God’s provision doesn’t depend on our goodness, our adequacy, our labors, our anything. God provides for His children because that’s His nature. Of course, we need to fulfill our responsibilities and work accordingly, but God doesn’t base all of His actions on ours. Sometimes He tests us, which stretches and grows our faith, yet even our level of trust doesn’t dictate His response.

Abraham used Jehovah-Jireh in reference to the Lord’s provision of a ram. You see, Almighty God had commanded him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. So Abraham obediently proceeded to Mount Moriah with Isaac, bound him, and laid him on the altar. Yet through it all he trusted God to provide another sacrifice, and when he held the knife in his hand, an angel stopped him … at the last minute. Abraham released Isaac as his trust in God’s provision became reality.

Dear friend, what need interrupts your sleep or troubles your spirit? God longs for you to trust Him anew, recognizing Him as Jehovah-Jireh. Just as He reminded me of this truth, He’s speaking to you…

Trust Him. He’s got it. The LORD WILL provide.

photo credit: Fulton Ram via photopin (license)

Biblical Truths I Learned From My Cats: Be Bold

Posted on: by: Comments: Leave a comment

It amuses me what God sometimes uses to teach us lessons. Lately, it seems my four cats (and others in my life) have been the source of a few biblical truths.

 

Be Bold

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV

Toph

TophToph is not actually my cat. Technically, she belongs to Cat Depot, the organization for whom I foster kittens. She was only a month old when she was found running in circles on a busy street because she is completely blind. The vet said she’d probably been blind from birth, most likely from infection as a newborn. This little thing, who weighed less than half a pound, had somehow survived at least four weeks with no vision whatsoever. My children dubbed her Toph after a heroine in an animated TV series – a warrior girl who is blind.

Toph has lived up to her name. She’s never had any sight, but that doesn’t stop her from trying the same things I’ve watched many other kittens learn to do. At first, she was a little cautious, but then she learned to trust that if she were headed for danger, we would stop her. While she’s still confined most of the time to a large ferret cage for her own safety, she gets around just fine. She can find her bed, her litter box, her food and water bowls, and even her toys, by feel and sound and smell. She can climb the ramps to the other levels of the cage. When we let her out, she runs around the living room floor, and seems to know exactly where the furniture is. If you shake her ball that rattles, she will turn and immediately pounce right on it. It may take her a bit longer to figure things out such as how to maneuver a ramp, but she never hesitates to try. When I recently introduced her to another kitten so she’d have some company, she boldly began pawing all over him, “feeling” to see what he was. Then, deeming him an appropriate playmate, promptly pounced on him.

Why can’t we have that same approach to new things in our lives? We should never let fear (or our own limitations) prevent us from going after whatever He sets before us, even if it means stepping outside our comfort zones. God promises He will always be with us, that He will never leave us or forsake us. He tells us to be brave and courageous. We may not always be able to see where He’s taking us, but we know if we trust Him, He’ll take us someplace awesome. If a blind kitten can be bold, why shouldn’t we pounce on every opportunity we can, knowing our God is right there with us?

I know I’m already approaching crazy cat lady status … but I just might keep this little blind kitten to remind me that I don’t have to see where I’m going to know my God’s got this.

Blessings,

Amy