Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."
A few years ago I was coaching a volleyball game when one of my girls got hurt on the court. When it was apparent she was not able to continue playing, her dad came on to the court to her rescue. He is a big firefighter, but a gentle giant. He assessed his daughter's situation, and then scooped her up into his arms and carried her off the court. It was an incredibly moving sight to see.
That's the image I get when I read this verse. It says you should "cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you." Just like my player cried out to her daddy for help, we should do the same to our Heavenly Daddy. When we do, He scoops us into His arms and sustains us. He never let's the righteous fall.
With that said, however, how many times do we cast our cares on Him, but instead we try to bear our own burdens? Giving it all up and over to Him, and leaving it with Him is not easy. But the verse for this week promises us that God will sustain us. It doesn't say to cast our cares on God and we'll be able to handle things a little better. No, it doesn't even say to tell God all about it and you'll be able manage through the tough times.
The notes in my NIV Study Bible for a similar passage in I Peter 5:7 say it better than I can: "Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself show that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, to admit your need, and to let other in God's family help you. sometimes we think that struggles caused by our on sin and foolishness are not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, He will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don't submit to circumstances, but to the Lord who controls circumstances."
So here's the question. Are you going to let our Heavenly Firefighter scoop you up off the court? Are you going to cry out to Him, cast your cares on Him, and let Him sustain you? I hope you'll evaluate life's circumstances, your reaction to them, and see if you're allowing this verse to be true in your life. Definitely for me, I've got a lot of evaluating to do!
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com