"Casting all your care upon him; for he
careth for you" (1Pet. 5:7). God cares for us in
the sense of having a personal interest in us.
We are the work of his hands, and as such he is
interested in our prosperity. He watches over
the development of our lives; he notes every
step of progress. The one who plants a flower,
waters it, cares for it, and watches the
development of each tiny shoot and bud, cares
more for that flower and has a deeper interest
in it than has the one who merely stops for a
few minutes to admire its full blown beauty and
to enjoy it fragrance. To the one it is only one
plant out of many, but to the other it has a
special meaning and attraction and worth,
because its bloom and fragrance are the result
of his labor, care, and patience. It is his
plant. So it is with God. He gave us our being;
he has nourished and protected us and watched us
develop day by day; he is interested in us and
desires our lives to bloom and send forth a
fragrance of trueness and purity all around. Let
us so live that he will not be disappointed in
us.
He
cares for us because he created us for his glory
and to fill a place in his eternal kingdom. He
created us, not merely that we might have an
existence, but for a purpose for himself. He
wants us to make a success of our lives, not
simply for our own advantage, but to fill the
place for which he created us for his purpose
and glory. And because of this he will use every
endeavor to help us succeed in our lives.
He
cares for us in the sense that he loves us. "The
Father himself loveth you." "I have loved thee
with an everlasting love." "God so loved the
world." He has a deep and abiding affection for
every soul, and even when we stray away from him
into the depth of sin, his heart yearns over us
as a mother over her erring boy, only his love
is stronger than a mother's. He sends his
servants out to seek the lost, and his Spirit to
plead with them. Sinner, he loves you. Though
you have grieved him and have repelled his
Spirit over and over again, yet his eye beams
with pity, his heart is tender with love, and
his arms are outstretched toward you to welcome
you to his embrace.
If he
thus cares for the rebellious and neglectful
sinner, how much does he care for his own
obedient, loving children! How tender his love!
Sometimes in a dark and troublesome hour when
his face seems hidden, we may feel as did the
disciples when they cried out in their distress,
"Carest thou not that we perish?" Ah, he did
care. At once he arose and rebuked the elements
and brought the disciples safely to the land.
Yea, he does care. "He careth for you." His help
may sometimes seem delayed, but it will come and
just at the time to be most effective. In your
joys and victories and seasons of refreshing he
cares for you and also in the time of trial, of
persecution, of heaviness and longing, and of
bitterness of soul. In it all he cares, and he
will bring you through when he sees the soul
refined and fitted for his purpose. "He careth
for you." Believe it. Let your soul exult in it
and shout it aloud. Or if you can in your sorrow
only whisper it, let you heart still say: "He
loves and he cares. I will trust him and be
content."
Again, he cares for us in the sense of
taking care of us. His care is proved in his
making so beautiful a world to be our home. The
flowers, the fruits, the grains, the grasses,
the animals, the sunshine, the winds, the rains,
and all were made to minister to man's need,
comfort and happiness. For us these exist. That
we may be fed: he causes the earth to bring
forth bountifully. That we may be clothed: he
makes the cotton and the flax to grow out of the
soil, the wool upon the sheep, and causes the
silkworm to spin its glossy house. That we might
be warmed: he made the coal, the gas, and the
forests. That we might be protected: he made the
stone, the wood, the iron and the clay that we
might have houses.
He
cares also for our bodies, that we may have
health. He gives us pure crystal water to quench
our thirst and cool us in fever, balmy
oxygen-laden air to build us up, and countless
other blessings. Above all this, he is himself
to us a Great Physician whose word heals our
suffering bodies and takes us out of the grasp
of death.
He
cares for us spiritually, giving us his grace to
help in every time of need--to shield in
temptation, to strengthen in trial, to make
strong in adversity, courageous in danger, and
valiant in conflict.
Truly, he cares for us. Let us doubt and
fear no more, but commit ourselves to him,
knowing that he will "in no wise fail"
us.
