Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. – 1Peter 5:7 (NRSV)
What anxiety do you have right now? Have you tried to give it to God? Do you believe God cares? What happens when you feel God actually take your anxieties?
The following story was e-mailed to me:
I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse. He had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, the electric saw quit and now his ancient pickup refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me to meet his family.
As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."
"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."
Sometimes just not holding on to all of our worries to enjoy the gifts God has given us means that we have given God our anxieties. When we worry it is hard to love others as we should. I don’t know if we should have a tree like in the story, but God knows we should have a prayer and go rejoice in those we love, praise the beauty that there is, and hope that tomorrow can be better. Peter was right, cast your anxieties upon him, because he cares for you.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Showing posts with label enjoy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label enjoy. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Friday, February 26, 2010
A Time For Everything
There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season. – Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NCV)
How has this been true in your life? What does this mean to you? What kind of special seasons have you gone through? What are some of the hard seasons? What are some of the joyous seasons? Where are you now?
Recently I sat down to write a Weekly Devotional. I had about a dozen different scriptures floating through my brain, but nothing substantial seemed to be formulating and I was getting frustrated.
To make matters worse my 15-month-old boy was also bothering me. He was grabbing onto the screen of the laptop and trying to close it. I looked at him and said, “Langston not right now, daddy is trying to work.” But he seemed neither to notice, nor to care, so I just tried to ignore him.
Then he came up with a book and set it next to me, and looked up at me smiling. “Langston we will read later, I am trying to do something.” Apparently he took that as an invitation to sit in my lap, because he tried pulling himself up. There was a part of me that was about to get angry when all of the sudden I realized how wonderful it was that he wanted me to read to him. Someday he won’t want his daddy reading to him. The work would still be there when we were done reading and playing, so I closed the computer and picked him up and read to him. And wouldn’t you know it, the work got done!
My little boy is in a special season of life and I better enjoy it or he will grow up and there will be time with him I can never get back. There is a time for everything, and that moment was not the time for me to write a devotional. It was the time to spend with a child who loves me and I thank my God that I did. We must realize that there really is a time for everything, because then we may actually be able to enjoy each moment for what it is, a miracle!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
How has this been true in your life? What does this mean to you? What kind of special seasons have you gone through? What are some of the hard seasons? What are some of the joyous seasons? Where are you now?
Recently I sat down to write a Weekly Devotional. I had about a dozen different scriptures floating through my brain, but nothing substantial seemed to be formulating and I was getting frustrated.
To make matters worse my 15-month-old boy was also bothering me. He was grabbing onto the screen of the laptop and trying to close it. I looked at him and said, “Langston not right now, daddy is trying to work.” But he seemed neither to notice, nor to care, so I just tried to ignore him.
Then he came up with a book and set it next to me, and looked up at me smiling. “Langston we will read later, I am trying to do something.” Apparently he took that as an invitation to sit in my lap, because he tried pulling himself up. There was a part of me that was about to get angry when all of the sudden I realized how wonderful it was that he wanted me to read to him. Someday he won’t want his daddy reading to him. The work would still be there when we were done reading and playing, so I closed the computer and picked him up and read to him. And wouldn’t you know it, the work got done!
My little boy is in a special season of life and I better enjoy it or he will grow up and there will be time with him I can never get back. There is a time for everything, and that moment was not the time for me to write a devotional. It was the time to spend with a child who loves me and I thank my God that I did. We must realize that there really is a time for everything, because then we may actually be able to enjoy each moment for what it is, a miracle!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
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