June 27, 2008

 

 Not a Care in This World

          It was pure bliss…or at least total oblivion to anything else. Pink plastic sunglasses sat slightly askew. The petite mouth was scrunched in a slanted, slightly open position, with a little bit of drool lolling out. She must have been 3 or 4, her one arm wrapped around her father’s neck, as the other hung limply down his shoulder. He walked past our table at Denny’s with a slight limp, to a booth just past ours. It wasn’t the tall man’s limp that caught my attention, but rather the utter abandon with which this precious little one flung herself on her father’s shoulder and rested. It was a sight. She didn’t have a care in the world.

           Sitting there, I thought of all the cares I was toting around with me, and wished I could just fling myself over someone’s shoulder and likewise sleep. Enter the Holy Spirit with the quickening words of Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.”  I was reminded that even when I insist on packing my cares around, it needn’t be that way. We are admonished to “ cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5: 6-7). That is certainly what the little toddler was doing, and I could do the same with all my worldly cares with my Heavenly Father.

           That father with the little girl was not going to let anything happen to his little one. She was safe and secure in his arms. He would not drop her or let anything harm her, as long as she abandoned herself to him. Any care she had at that time, he would take care of. She could sleep the sleep of drool.

           Similarly, our Heavenly Father does not let anything get to us, if and when we abandon ourselves to Him. The clue is total abandonment. The little girl in the restaurant did not sleep fitfully, wondering if her father would prop her up if she would nod off and start to slip. She had confidence in her dad. He would not let her slip from his grip when she turned it all over to him. She obviously didn’t think she needed to relax with one eye open to make sure she was going to be alright and her dad would do it all right. She trusted him.

           We are challenged to have that same trust and confidence in our Heavenly Father. We can be sure, as he carries us through this life, that in every situation He will take care of us. We do not have to live with one eye open to make sure God does it right, and we will be OK. So often we do, but it does not have to be that way. God never intended it to be that way. Our enemy (Satan) is thrilled when we question our relationship with our Beloved.  Will he really take care of me? Can He handle this mess I have created? Does He really care about all I am going through? If He loves me so much, why do I have to face these trials? Satan is always sowing those seeds of doubt. The TRUTH is, God will always take care of us- if we let Him. He is concerned about every detail of our lives (See Psalm 139)- if we will share them with Him. He loves us so much, He was willing to send His only Son and see Him suffer unjustly and to the utter extreme, just so we could be with Him forever. He was willing to sacrifice Himself for us. Some times it takes a trial to keep us close to Him. At times, without being convinced (through a trial) that we are desperately needy and can not handle anything without Him, would we even pay attention to the unseen (with physical eyes) Creator and Lover of our souls? Be honest.

           In the verse in 1 Peter, the word ‘cast’ actually means to ‘pitch’ or to ‘throw’. When those cares start flying your way, or when you realize that you are carrying around more cares than you need, (which for me would be one), just pitch those cares and problems to God. He can catch them without a glove. And knows just how to help you through. Sometimes He carries us; sometimes He holds our two hands, facing us and helps us along. Sometimes He holds one hand, and sometimes He points out that He has been this way before, and asks us to follow His footprints. Regardless of how, He will get us through, because, “He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (Amplified version). Sometimes the cares we pitch may be curve balls, or fastballs, but the Lord can handle anything we throw at Him.

           God would do anything to have us fling ourselves across His shoulders, live the life of drool and be totally His. The father’s limp reminded me of the scars my Heavenly Father’s Son still carries in His hands and side. All this to secure for me the possibility that when I cast my burden- literally, what He has given to you- upon the Lord, He will sustain you. The key? Verse 23b of Psalm 55- “But I will trust in Thee.”

           Get on your pink plastic sunglasses and get ready to drool!