While it is still early in the new year, we have to say we are living in very interesting times. My son’s father-in-law is a Lutheran minister, 100 miles north of New York City. He once told me about the surge in church attendance following September 11, 2001. Even two hours north of the tragedy, in a classic New England village, in Rhinebeck, NY; there was an increase in church attendance.
Isn’t that how most of us react to challenges and stress? Our human predicaments easily remind us to go back to the basics, to the ABC’s of our lives: God, family, friends, church, community. It’s a natural human instinct. In Romans 2:14,15, Paul reminds us that each of us (not just believers) have a God-given conscience built into our hearts.
We often hear that “someone found God” or “they are searching for God.” The Scriptural and more accurate picture would be that God has never been lost, it is we who have gotten lost. And, it is in trials, heartache, and sorrow, that God’s built-in GPS, in the human heart, always points to home. To a place of rest, security, and safety.
We are all in different places in our Christian experiences and in our shared walk through life, but we all equally share in life’s many and varied challenges. Scripture tells us this is the human dilemma. Today’s trials are a reminder that now is the opportunity to draw closer to the author of our faith, to place our trust in Him, to live our daily lives in the A, B, C’s of our faith.
As Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” I want to emphasize two words: “cast” and “cares.” In Greek, the word used for “cast” describes a physical action, as in throwing or ejecting: the purposeful action of placing all of our anxieties on God. It is something we must do ourselves, which requires that we admit, “humbling” ourselves, that we can’t do it by ourselves. We need to just step out of the way and let God.
The other word in 1 Peter 5:7 is “cares.” This is another word in Greek for “anxiety.” Peter is telling us that God cares for us. Peter is telling us to let God worry about us. Stop worrying about yourself and let God do the worrying. Once we realize the utter futility of our abilities, it is so much easier to turn things over to God. In God, we are promised rest; even in the middle of the storm, we are promised peace.
Jesus said to each of us, " _______ (insert your name) I’ll be with you … day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 (MSG)
—Dr. Bill Pritchard