Giving it to God
I've heard this concept a lot in the last several days. Its based on a very popular scripture verse...1 Peter 5:7: Cast your cares on God, because he cares for you.
This is so popular, you might be singing the childrens song..."cast your burdens (clap clap clap) upon Jesus (clap clap clap) cuz he cares (clap clap clap) for you (clap clap clap)." If youre my friend Ben from college, youre singing it with a spanish accent and using castinets.
I've always been a worrier to some extent. Sometimes I pretty it up to say I am an overanalyzer. Sometimes I make it more intense and say I'm freaking out!! But in the root of whatever I'm calling it, really its just me, giving precious energy resources to something simply because I don't have information. I don't know if she's mad. I don't know if he likes me. I don't know what God has in store for me. I don't know if I prepared enough. I don't know if I should text so and so.
Are you tired?! Cuz I am!
I've never been a big fan of worrying. I hate that I do it...Recently I've been given to worry even more over a few things and it's moving me to discover a lot of the root causes of my worry to begin with.
I'm just going to tell you what they are. And you have whatever reaction to want to have, we can laugh about it together, or you can smack me around, I don't care! 90% of all the blogs I write are so I feel better, not for you. lol.
1. A limited faith in myself.
Yuck, I know, right? A great portion of all the things that stress me out or cause me worry stem from this. "Am I saying the right things?" "Am I doing the right things?" "Are they gonna like this/me?" "Am I on the right track?" "Am I too much or too little?" I've felt this way much of my life and always thought that as I went along I would gain more and more experience and have exponentially less self doubt as I grew. This has not proven to be true.
2. A limited faith in others.
If you have seen my four main beliefs you know that number one is "people suck." This is really just a brash way of saying "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I know, the Bible always says it better. But really, this point in and of itself should be enough to generate worry in me. I worry about other people a lot! Are they talking bad about me? Have I offended them? Do they really like me or are just too nice to tell me to leave them alone? The more I know about people, the harder it is to trust them.
3. A limited faith in God.
Some things are easy to believe about God. I believe that God loves me. I believe that God sent Jesus to die for my sins. I believe that God forgives me. I believe that God wants whats best for me. But when worry creaps in, thats about as far as it goes. I end up not trusting verses like "I know the plans I have for you, Plans to prosper you..." or "Ask and you will recieve, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open." In other words, Gods vested interest in me personally and the development of my life by design. It's sometimes hard for me to trust that God knows and cares about the little things I'd really like. Sometimes its hard to believe that God cares about the BIG things I'd really like to have. I doubt frequently that I'll even get married, much less that he would be tall and funny and smart and a talented musician...I mean the little things are insignificant. An old friend referred to this as God's lovingkindness. Its loving of God to give us bread, but its his lovingkindness that makes it fresh baked with homemade jam. When I doubt the bread, I certainly doubt the jelly! Don't let the bread confuse you, this isnt about God providing for my needs. The roof over my head and the fact that I'm not starving and have friends and family prove to me that God provides my needs. Its about the extra special "romantic" touches that I hear people talking about. The pressed down, shaken together, running over stuff. The stuff I DON'T need, but sure would love to have.
The funny thing about me is that worry bores me after a few minutes. I'll churn up into a real tizzy before i calm down and act rational again. Because over all the things that might worry me...In control of all of the things that might hurt me...Is a God who does love me. He is trust-worthy. Trust is used VERY frequently in the Psalms and I wonder if it wasnt because David struggled with worry. He sought so much after God's heart, but did terrible things at the same time. Did his weakness and his understanding of that weakness translate into a natural tendancy to doubt God? When you read some of this psalms he talks about all the terrible things that could befall him. Was he worried about them each individually? Did he write some of those trusting psalms to bring himself back around to what he genuinely believes? That God is good and to be trusted.
Is that what I just did in this blog?!?! You'll never know....
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
This is so popular, you might be singing the childrens song..."cast your burdens (clap clap clap) upon Jesus (clap clap clap) cuz he cares (clap clap clap) for you (clap clap clap)." If youre my friend Ben from college, youre singing it with a spanish accent and using castinets.
I've always been a worrier to some extent. Sometimes I pretty it up to say I am an overanalyzer. Sometimes I make it more intense and say I'm freaking out!! But in the root of whatever I'm calling it, really its just me, giving precious energy resources to something simply because I don't have information. I don't know if she's mad. I don't know if he likes me. I don't know what God has in store for me. I don't know if I prepared enough. I don't know if I should text so and so.
Are you tired?! Cuz I am!
I've never been a big fan of worrying. I hate that I do it...Recently I've been given to worry even more over a few things and it's moving me to discover a lot of the root causes of my worry to begin with.
I'm just going to tell you what they are. And you have whatever reaction to want to have, we can laugh about it together, or you can smack me around, I don't care! 90% of all the blogs I write are so I feel better, not for you. lol.
1. A limited faith in myself.
Yuck, I know, right? A great portion of all the things that stress me out or cause me worry stem from this. "Am I saying the right things?" "Am I doing the right things?" "Are they gonna like this/me?" "Am I on the right track?" "Am I too much or too little?" I've felt this way much of my life and always thought that as I went along I would gain more and more experience and have exponentially less self doubt as I grew. This has not proven to be true.
2. A limited faith in others.
If you have seen my four main beliefs you know that number one is "people suck." This is really just a brash way of saying "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I know, the Bible always says it better. But really, this point in and of itself should be enough to generate worry in me. I worry about other people a lot! Are they talking bad about me? Have I offended them? Do they really like me or are just too nice to tell me to leave them alone? The more I know about people, the harder it is to trust them.
3. A limited faith in God.
Some things are easy to believe about God. I believe that God loves me. I believe that God sent Jesus to die for my sins. I believe that God forgives me. I believe that God wants whats best for me. But when worry creaps in, thats about as far as it goes. I end up not trusting verses like "I know the plans I have for you, Plans to prosper you..." or "Ask and you will recieve, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open." In other words, Gods vested interest in me personally and the development of my life by design. It's sometimes hard for me to trust that God knows and cares about the little things I'd really like. Sometimes its hard to believe that God cares about the BIG things I'd really like to have. I doubt frequently that I'll even get married, much less that he would be tall and funny and smart and a talented musician...I mean the little things are insignificant. An old friend referred to this as God's lovingkindness. Its loving of God to give us bread, but its his lovingkindness that makes it fresh baked with homemade jam. When I doubt the bread, I certainly doubt the jelly! Don't let the bread confuse you, this isnt about God providing for my needs. The roof over my head and the fact that I'm not starving and have friends and family prove to me that God provides my needs. Its about the extra special "romantic" touches that I hear people talking about. The pressed down, shaken together, running over stuff. The stuff I DON'T need, but sure would love to have.
The funny thing about me is that worry bores me after a few minutes. I'll churn up into a real tizzy before i calm down and act rational again. Because over all the things that might worry me...In control of all of the things that might hurt me...Is a God who does love me. He is trust-worthy. Trust is used VERY frequently in the Psalms and I wonder if it wasnt because David struggled with worry. He sought so much after God's heart, but did terrible things at the same time. Did his weakness and his understanding of that weakness translate into a natural tendancy to doubt God? When you read some of this psalms he talks about all the terrible things that could befall him. Was he worried about them each individually? Did he write some of those trusting psalms to bring himself back around to what he genuinely believes? That God is good and to be trusted.
Is that what I just did in this blog?!?! You'll never know....
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
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