"Casting all your Anxiety on Him, because He cares for you"
1 Peter 5:7
I was watching my new puppy, Butters, this summer as he watched boats go by on the lake. I think the noise of the speedboats caught his attention that day and he was in awe of all the lake activity . . the waterskiiers, kids tubing, old people pontooning. I remember thinking, 'It's a good thing I'm out here . . there's a few eagles lurking around waiting to snatch up any fur-bearing critter they can get their beaks on.' Butters seemed oblivous to this danger. Actually, there wasn't much he seemed afraid of that August afternoon. He certainly wasn't afraid of the water . . or the edge of the dock . . or the loud sounds of the speedboats passing by.
He had one concern though. He was mindfully aware of my presence or lack thereof. He repeatedly looked back to the swing I was reading in . . just to make sure I was there. If I got up, he got up and trailed after me.
I was his protector and keeper. He could go along with life on the shore . . watching the boats, digging up seaweed, rolling in dead fish or whatever, as long as he knew I was there. Life was pretty good for Butters that day.
Watching Butters in his contentment, made me think back a few years and how life could have been better for me. I wished I would have been Butters, not literally . . though life as a dog is not too bad . . but figuratively speaking. I wished I hadn't spent most of the last fifteen years or so in constant anxiety and worry, unable to secure the knowledge of my own Protector and Keeper. I wished I would have had the ability to sit back and enjoy what God was giving me . . babies in diapers, toddlers with peas up their noses, a neurotic mother, and husband with a preoccupation for Vikings football. Looking back, I had the ability, I just didn't make the choice to look to God as my Protector and Keeper. He had been my Savior . . but not my Protector and Keeper.
I recalled the many trips to the emergency room, thinking my spleen must have ruptured (it was just gas) or how the tumor in my brain had made its way into my sinus cavity (turns out there was no tumor, just allergies). I remember countless hours on the internet studying the various diseases I most likely had.
If I had just looked upward, rather than inward, I would have rested in God's presence in my life (and saved us thousands in emergency room visits!). Sure, you get a chronic ache or pain, you go to the doctor, but my pains were emotional and spiritual, not physical. Had I allowed God to 'Sit in the swing' and trusted Him to do the watching over me, I could have peacefully enjoyed the moments God intended for me to enjoy.
I am thankful now, that I have peace and don't excessively worry like I did in the past. I can enjoy living and the many things that God brings into my life . . that are meant to be enjoyed! The difference between then and now, is that now I look upward to God and have peace in knowing that He is taking care of me and truly in control of my life. Hearing Matthew 7:11 reassured me that God is a loving Father and not so much like the earthly father that I had had . . . "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" NIV
This verse told me that God is good.
We may get sick and have problems in life (many of which are brought on by our own sinfulness, I might add . . speaking mainly of myself), but God is God over all. Nothing is out of His hands or too big to handle for His children.
Are you one of His children?
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