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Janet's Blog
Janet's Blog
Blog
Cares and Concerns – What To Do
| Posted on 10 December, 2015 at 23:40 |
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In
this stressful age we are living in, so many of us worry and become
anxious about things – big and small. Many experience depression
from too much of that. Some of us are addicted to worry, so to speak,
as if we would feel lost for something to do if we did not have our
worry-time each day. But scripture has a few things to say about
this. I
am sure that you will go away from this post feeling lighter and
comforted with a better understanding of what to do with cares and
concerns - those things that worry you. Ask The Lord to make the
following principles and examples of scripture clear to you, so you
can really benefit from what you read. Come with me! 1 Peter 5:7 in the New Testament says Weymouth
New Testament Throw the whole of your anxiety upon Him, because He Himself cares for you. I did a quick research of Psalm 55:23 and found the following paragraphs by three Jewish writers who know their scriptures. Revised Standard Version Cast
your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never
permit the righteous to be moved. Names of God Bible Turn
your burdens over to Yahweh, and he will take care of
you. He will never let the righteous person stumble. Cast
Down Your Load! Friends,
you've been carrying that burden for far too long. Enough already!
Cast it off, and let Hashem, Who lovingly carries you and your load,
do His work. Yankel
the peddler would travel from town to town, peddling his wares. Day
after day he would drag his heavy cases and chests full of goods
across the mud-ridden roads. One day, the owner of the wagon, seeing
Yankel plodding along, bowing under the weight of his baggage, had
stopped his coach, and was inviting Yankel to come along with him for
the ride into the next town. Yankel happily accepted, and dragged his
baggage up onto the carriage. He took a seat, and the wagon again
began to move. A
few minutes later, the wagon-owner noticed that Yankel, seated in the
wagon, still carried his entire burden upon his shoulders. "Yankel,"
he said, "why don't you put your bags down?" Remember
scripture says "You open Your hand, and satisfy the needs of
every living thing." Let
those of us with toilsome cares and weighty concerns wake up! Throw
down your burden - and let Hashem, Who carries us and all our needs,
do His work. This is precisely what David says in Psalms 55:23,
"Throw your 'baggage' upon Hashem and He will sustain you." Hashem means God, in original Hebrew, the Bible was written in. Psalm 55:23 The
writer of this story explains that so many people act like the
peddler. They carry heavy burdens in life unnecessarily. We must
realize that Hashem is carrying us anyway let Him carry your burden
as well. Note that
Hashem is not like human beings. When a person asks his fellow for a
favor, the fellow will likely be happy to do it. When he is asked a
second and third time, he will likely agree to the favor, but with
less enthusiasm. Already by the fourth time, though, he will likely
say, "Enough already!" and refuse to help. Hashem isn't
like that. Whenever we "throw our burden" on Hashem, He
responds favorably. Not only does He not get worn out by our repeated
requests for help, but to the contrary,He
gets closer to us the more we call out to Him. He loves when we ask
Him for favors, and the more we ask, the more He loves to help us
because we are looking to Him our Maker. Sometimes
we find ourselves in a situation and we wonder how it will ever work
out; it seems impossible. We are so fortunate that we just need to
turn to Hashem for help. As the Torah says, whenever we call to Him,
He is eagerly waiting to help us. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed,
having too much to do and not having any idea how it will all get
done. A person told me he was given extra responsibilities at work,
and the situation was just impossible. There were simply not enough
hours in the day to complete all he needed to do. Suddenly, a
two-hour period which he had reserved for a separate project freed
up. It was unmistakably through the Hand of God, He didn't lose any
money, and now he has time to get everything done. No burden is too
heavy for Hashem. We have the greatest source of help available to us
at all times. People sometimes think, "I don't want to bother
Hashem with this one; it's too trivial a problem." There's no
such thing as too trivial a problem. He can't wait for us to come and
ask Him for help. We can bring Him any "load" we have. And
the more we have for Him to "carry," the more He is willing
to take on. If we feel worried and anxious, this shows that
we are still holding on to our bags, and refusing to put them down
and let Hashem carry them for us. Casting
Your Burdens "Cast
your burden upon Hashem, and He will sustain you." (Psalms
55:23) Everyone
in the world has burdens. Some are heavier than others – some are
lighter. You cannot always tell how heavy someone else's burden is;
you only have the subjective experience of your own. But know, with
clarity, that just as you have burdens, so does everyone else. Here
we have the ultimate advice on how to handle your burdens: do not do
it alone. You never have to do it all yourself. As a matter of fact,
it's impossible to do it all yourself. You can call upon the
Almighty, your Father, your King, Creator and Sustainer of the
universe to help you. Our verse tells us that you can give over your
entire load of baggage to Hashem, and He will sustain you. (Growth
Through Tehillim: Exploring Psalms for Life Transforming Thoughts, p.
129) * * * * * The
term 'casting'
is
used by people who go fishing at the riverside. They take their
fishing rod with them that has a long line on a reel. When they are
ready to catch a fish, They take a firm hold of the handle of the
rod, they release the reel from a locked position and they fling the
rod (in their hand of-course) over from behind them (position) to
over in front of them, and the line goes into the water. The object
of this exercise is to cast the weight on the end of the line as far
as they can from them into the water. Now
there is something else to keep in mind here. The 'Riverside is a
pleasant
and
restful
place,
speaking of the Presence
of The Lord.
When we decide to “Cast our Cares on The Lord” (onto God) we do
this best in the Presence of God. When we are at
rest with Him
(in His Presence) we find the confidence
to let go
of our problems – whatever is concerning us. Just like the person
fishing, we need to cast the line as far as we can – without
restraint, to get the best results. Some of us use a short line, so
to speak, when we give our concerns to God. For us, without
restraint means without reservation...... to know that He will take
care of us.....He can handle it. God's
shoulders are bigger than ours. We don't have to wear a frown. There
is another scripture that speaks of casting our cares. It speaks of
“Throwing off every weight that hinders us and run that race in
God” just like an athlete will take off his weighty clothing and
wear something light – the lighter the better – no heavy jeans
and jackets, he/she must travel light for the best results. Just
like that big rainbow fish or ribbons at the finish of a
race.......The Lord can also bring blessing and a sense of accomplishment our
way, when we cast our cares on Him and commit our way to Him. His
word says that “He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him”.....it takes diligence to commit every care and concern
to God.....aye? Remember, it is best if you do this by the riverside.
Be
decided in your heart, that once those things (concerns) are given to
God, you are not going to take them back. The athlete leaves his
jacket back at the starting line.....he would not dare to run with
it...... yet many of us attempt to run this race in God (journey) with jackets, baggage and everything else, saying to
ourselves “what's wrong? something's wrong, I prayed about that”.
So when we pray about something often, we need to do something. Just
like we need to act in faith sometimes or repent, we need to fling
aside things (cast them away from us and refuse to worry) we need to
let go of them and commit them to The Lord. He
is saying to me that you cannot do this alone, that's why The
Comforter has come (the Holy Spirit). He will guide you into the
Truth (the realization) that your God is able, and that He does care
about you…...that
those who trust in Him do not trust Him in vain.....that He can make
all blessing abound to you as you get good at it: the more faith and
confidence you show in Him, the more He delights to reward that. Jesus said that He
is not a stingy Father like some earthly parents.....He is not angry
at us, He is not limited in resources. He is our Daddy, Elshadi: a
Might Protector and Gracious Provider. He is Yahweh: the Great I AM – He is
everything we need. The Shepherd and Savior, Lord and Deliverer,
Creator and Sustainer. The
Amplified says: “Cast
your burden on the Lord (releasing the weight of it)”
When you give things to The Lord, release the weight of them. My advice to each of you is to go to the Riverside in times of need. Yes, go to that spiritual River and be Refreshed. FIND YOUR REST IN GOD! I HOPE THIS HELPS One of my other posts will compliment this well |