All Your Cares

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

The word “change” causes many different reactions in people. Some embrace change wholeheartedly and are willing to change all the time. Others are afraid of change because they do not know what to expect. I am in the middle of a season of change. My family is making plans to build a new house and my temporary job will come to an end within the next few months.

I could be anxious about these changes because I don’t know how things will turn out. Yes, we have a plan for our house, but after many hours of work and decisions, it may not look exactly how I envisioned. The house may change. Yes, I’ve known that my job is temporary, so I’m not concerned that it will come to an end. The change is that I do not know what God has in store for me next in terms of job and/or ministry.

I could worry and fret that things will not turn out “just right.” Or, I could allow God to be in charge and do my best to follow His leading. I know that He cares for me and only wants what is best for me, so I will put my trust in Him and let Him do what He does best.

Are you struggling through a period of change? Do you rely only on what you see? Can you trust God to lead you through this season?

Father, I cast all my anxiety on you concerning changes in my life. Show me that I can place my faith in you daily and that you will take care of me. Work in my life so that I may testify of your glory to others.

In All Things

“...pray continually...” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV

Prayer is an important aspect of a Christian’s life. But, all too often we tend to take this discipline for granted. When everything is rolling along smoothly in life, prayer tends to take a back burner to other things. At least that’s true in my life. However, when life takes an unexpected turn and bad things happen, we drop to our knees begging God to hear our prayer and get us out of our bad situation.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been reminded that God wants us to pray all the time. This is our way of communicating with Him. If we are not in constant communication with Him, we will not know what He wants us to do in our lives. When we talk with God on a regular basis, we are able to discern His will for our lives. We are also able to handle difficult times because we know that God is going to take care of us.

God has placed in my heart several verses from His Word that have led me to remember what happens in my life when I pray.

P-Puts God’s perspective over my own. Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” Prayer helps me to focus on God’s ways and gets my ways out of the picture.

R-Releases me from my burdens. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 God wants to shoulder all our burdens. Only He can give us the peace that passes all understanding. Prayer allows me to shift all my burdens to Him.

A-Acknowledges that God’s way is the only way. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6 Only God knows the path I should take. Through prayer He makes this clear to me.

Y-Yields my actions to God’s authority. 2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Confessing my sins and tendency to do my own thing instead of following God draws me into a closer relationship with Him.

Is your prayer life stale and routine? Do you only pray when a crisis arises? Talk to God today and make prayer a priority in your life.

Distractions

“But all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life…” Mark 4:19 NLT

Ok, so I’ve been distracted the last couple of weeks. That is obvious as I have not written a devotional for the past two weeks. One week I was on vacation and the other…well, I just forgot! Life is full of distractions and things that will get us sidetracked from what we have on our agendas.

One area that has been hurt by my distraction is quality time with God in His Word. I have let the cares of this world get me distracted from a consistent time of studying the Bible. I can certainly tell the difference in my life when the Bible is not the main book I’m reading. Selfishness, apathy and laziness creep into my life. I’m not able to handle stressful situations with grace. My words are short and biting. I become a person that I don’t want to be around. So, I’ve tried to remedy this situation by committing to reading from the Word every morning before I leave the house. Since there are 31 days in October, I am going to read one chapter of Proverbs each day. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs to correspond with 31 days in October. Not only am I going to read a chapter, I am going to study and meditate on it. Proverbs is full of wisdom to help us live our lives the way God wants us to. I don’t want to miss out on any of God’s instructions.

Another area of my life that has been hurt by my distraction is the overwhelming responsibilities I’ve taken on at home, school, church and in the community. Too many things to do always makes me cranky. I tend to put off some of my responsibilities and get distracted because I am overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. My solution for this is to start delegating or stepping down from some of the responsibilities I’ve taken on. Life just seems to work better for me if I can keep things simple so that I am not distracted.

What is your distraction? What can you do about it?