How Can God Care?
It has been a hard year for a lot of people. The economic problems our country is facing has turned what a lot of us believed upside down. It is tough to come to terms with the fact that what we were always so “sure” of ” a steady job, a retirement fund for the future…are gone, just like that.
Although it is really hard to admit, I think that it may be hardest for Christians to reconcile what is happening in the world, our country, and even our own backyards, because it is exposing our weaknesses and mistakes more vividly than ever before.
For myself, even though I consider myself a “lifelong” Christian, I have always placed a healthy dose of reliance on my own ability to make everything work out. Sure, I pray and ask God for help, but I am sad to admit a lot of times those prayers sound a lot like a to-do list to God rather than placing my faith in his guiding hand.
Does that sound like you, too? The hard part is that we haven’t been equipped to handle the tough challenges of today: rising housing prices and decreasing values, unemployment, and so much more. And so when bad stuff happens, the control we thought we had over the situation crumbles and we are left with the knowledge that we can’t handle it after all.
After everything we have done to mess up our lives, does God really care? Does he really want to help us despite all of our mistakes? Aren’t there people out there who deserve his time and help more?
1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “give all your worry and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” It doesn’t matter if we made a mistake (or two, or three) because God knows that we need him even more when we’ve messed up along the line. He is forgiving and caring no matter what we can do.
We get caught up in the worldly logic that says that if we brought it on ourselves, we have to clean up after ourselves. It’s not God’s problem. I know this is an area of thought that I fight against constantly ” trying to solve everything myself. But God’s ways aren’t the world’s ways, and He tells us to lean on Him ” no matter what got us into our circumstance: “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11: 29-30. All we need is the faith to believe in Him.
That’s right. We no longer have to carry our fears and anxieties on our shoulders. God’s yoke is strong and he will sustain us through the tough times ” and hold us in celebration when they are good again. That is one gift that is too prized to reject.
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