How to Cast Your Cares Away

Casting all our cares on God is hard to do, isn't it? We know that He causes all things to work together for His glory and our good. We know that He knows the best way to handle everything that concerns us. Yet, we do what a dear friend says she does: "I take my burdens to the Lord and leave them there. But then I go right back and pick them up again. Then the worry starts all over again, and I feel the weight of them again."

How do we release them? In my humble opinion, it's a bit like losing weight. We commit to doing it, and then comes the hard part. Moment by moment and day after day, we are faced with decisions. Do I eat this or avoid it? Do I exercise today or find reasons to skip it? Do I go to bed on time to give my body the rest it needs? Do I drink sugar-laden drinks or water? 

These are not once-and-done decisions. How much easier weight loss would be if that were the case. But we have to make those same decisions again and again and again. I think giving our burdens to the Lord is a lot like that, don't you? 

I heard one woman talk about a way she does that day-by-day surrendering. 

"Every single time a worry pops into my mind, I say to myself, 'For this [whatever the this may be] I have Jesus.' If the troublesome thought enters my mind again, which can be hundreds of times a day, I simply remind myself again: 'For this I have Jesus.' I can't keep the thought from coming, but I can refuse to let my mind dwell on the problem, no matter how big the problem is." 

Floating Along?

By being stricter with yourself, you will begin to live life more deliberately, on your own terms rather than simply reacting to life the way a leaf floating in a stream drifts according to the flow of the current on a particular day.
~Robin Sharma (Who Will Cry When You Die? p.9)

Do Not Give In To Them!

Doctors have never said, “You have attention deficit disorder,” but I think I do since I’m easily distracted. For example, one morning after I finished writing in my journal, I took a “stand up break” before beginning to write a blog post.

As I re-settled myself, I thought, I loved the Gordon McDonald poem Elisabeth Elliot read last night. I’ll search for it on the internet before I forget about it. Although I didn’t find it, I did discover videos that featured him. I watched one for a few minutes before I reluctantly hit pause (in order to write).

Then I thought, I need to get “caught up” on reading one chapter a day in the Book of Proverbs. While I read and jotted down insights, the minutes designated for writing slipped away as silently but as surely as sand in an hourglass. 

When I glanced at the clock, I thought. Oh, no! My writing time is gone. I’ve gotta get up and get busy.

Suddenly, the “Do not give in to them!” warnings I’d read in Proverbs 1:10-16 took on an expanded meaning. Although they warned me against giving in to enticements to do evil, I realized I must also resist giving in to distractions—even “good” ones—if they keep me from doing the work (writing) God asked me to do. Clearly, I must break my lifelong habit of letting GOOD things keep me from the BEST ones.

Which Way?

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 

"I am the LORD your God, 

who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.”

Isaiah 48:17, ESV

Since I have a difficult time making decisions, even simple ones, I notice (and photograph!) directional signs that offer a variety of destinations, such as this one I discovered on Sanibel Island, Florida in 2009.

Rarely, for me, are decisions as simple as A or B? 1 or 2? Left or right? 

Instead, I see a myriad of possibilities, as on the sign, and I try to evaluate each one. If I take this route, thus and so might happen. If I choose this, then the result will be….

Because of my angst with decision making, I love Bible verses that assure me God will guide me down the paths He thinks best for me. A particularly favorite passage is Isaiah 30:20-21, ESV, “…but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

That’s exactly the kind of clear direction I need! Do you need that clarity, too, Dear Reader? If so, let’s learn to listen carefully. He is with us. He is speaking!