Throw it on Him!

“…Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).  This verse has been my rock this week, and I want to share it with you.

People of God, look at the first part of the verse – “cast” means “to throw upon.”  That’s a little different from the picture of someone taking their troubles and laying them at Jesus’ feet (where we can pick them up again at will).  No, Peter says to throw our cares on Him.  Well, we know Jesus isn’t here in the flesh today, so here’s a visual/literal thing that you can do.  Get a print of Jesus, and write your troubles on little sticky notes, and prayerfully put them on the print.  Put it in a place where you will see it every day, several times a day.  Then when you think about it, instead of asking God to take care of it, just worship Him.  The combination of the action of putting the sticky note on the print, the daily visual reinforcement of seeing the print with the problem on Jesus, and the worship going into the atmosphere (and back into your ears) changes the way you think about the problem.  When you change the way you think about it, you will change the way you pray, and the problem will begin to shrink.

Now, blessed ones, look at the second part – He cares for you.  There’s much more in this verse than just saying that God gets a Holy tear in His Holy eye when you have trouble.  He takes care of you, because He is your father.  Understand that your problems are not yours alone; they are His problems.  It is an orphan spirit that comes to tell you you’re all alone, and that you have to work out your problems all by yourself.  Jesus told the disciples in John 14:18, “I will not leave you comfortless (bereft of a father or parents, orphaned).”  Now, I don’t know about you, but when our kids were in trouble, even if it was something that they caused, we didn’t throw them out of the house and tell them, “You’re on your own now … good luck!”  No, even today, as they’re on their own, if they come to us with a problem, we do our best to help them however we can.  God is so much bigger and better than we – why would we think He would desert us and leave us to handle our own problems?  I believe He’s sitting there at times, watching us struggle, saying to Jesus, “Oh, if ______ would only throw that on me!”

So, friend, what are your struggles today?  Just throw them on God, and leave them there.  Worship Him.  Trust Him like a little child trusts Daddy.

Peace,

Davina

 

Failure

Earlier this week I commented that, “It’s much easier to slip into a life of mediocrity than to fight for excellence.”  Those who read this probably thought that I was talking about someone else, but I was actually looking inside.  I was deeply considering giving up on my pursuit of a better life, and letting the easier path of mediocrity take me.

It’s been a rough week, but I’m back!

Even though I may have a setback, I am not a failure.  I have, in the words of Thomas Edison when developing the light bulb, simply found another way that doesn’t work.  Take a minute to check out a few Thomas Edison Quotes.  These should encourage you.
Thanks so much to Dr. Ray and Mary Vinson for their encouragement and continued support, and for never giving up on Mark and me.  And of course, I’m so grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ … He is my rock.

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Gal. 6:9 NASB).

Peace,

Davina

Retakes are Allowed

I am called, in part, to offer encouragement through my writing.  So I began blogging regularly, one post each weekend, a few weeks ago.  My last writing was two weeks ago, and it was called “Consistency.”

Last weekend I sat down and wrote, and rewrote, and tried, and retried, but the words just wouldn’t flow.  So I gave up.  After writing about consistency, I was inconsistent.  I failed the test.

Sweet friends, whether your calling is to write, to clean motel rooms, to produce movies, or to manage an office, there will be days when you just aren’t “feeling it.”  These are the days of testing.  You may question, “Am I really called to do this?”  I would say that if you’re being tested in it, that’s a good sign.  And here’s why.

Testing follows training.  You will not be tested in an area in which you aren’t trained.  Kindergarten students are not tested on Old English literature, are they?  If you are being tested, you are ready for the test.

Promotion follows testing.  When I was in a New Testament class, the tests included material from the writings of Paul, and questions about the world itself during the period of time surrounding the life of our Savior.  Finally, after passing the tests, I graduated from that class.

Blessed child of God, life is no different.  When we declare, “I am __________,” we can expect … no, we can KNOW that there will be a test to follow.  And if we fail the test, we get to take it again!  Isn’t that great?  We have another chance to prove that we can do it!

What I’ve learned about tests:

1) The test relates to the material studied.

2) The promotion relates to the test.

3) Retakes are allowed.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” (1 Pet. 4:12,13 NASB)

Peace,

Davina