Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders - he’ll carry your
load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. (Psalm
55:22)
Kind
Father, I cherish that verse. The Message seems to best capture the intent of
“cast your cares on the Lord” and St. Peter distills the invitation:
Live
carefree before God; he is most careful with you. (1 Peter 5:7)
…but I can’t
seem to internalize this scripture. We are in a constant tug of war. I
gratefully pile my troubles upon your broad shoulders - for a little while -
and then I retrieve them. Why is that?
Maybe
I’m not the good people noted in the
Psalm, merely a part-time Christian. And I fall into that enticing trap of
self-sufficiency, my strength rather than yours. And I make decisions without
listening for your guidance, asking you to bless a path already chosen.
Lord
Christ, I’m a slow learner. Explain it to me once more - that part from the
Sermon on the Mount about the carefree birds of the air and lilies of the field:
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers
- most of which are never even seen - don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take
pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to
relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to
God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over
these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in
God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out.
You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire
attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what
may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard
things come up when the time comes. (Matthew 6:30-34)
Lose
the guilt. Loosen my grip. Listen to the Spirit. Live by faith. That’s the cure
for worry. Amen.
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