Cast Your Burden

“Cast your burden on the Lord,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Psalm 55:22

David wrote this Psalm in light of friends who had turned on him. His heart was “severely pained” and he wanted to fly away and escape (vs. 4-8).

Are you in a time of pain and hardship? Are you facing struggles with relationships, or another hard trial? Maybe you wish you could escape it and be removed from the challenges.

Amidst your hardship, cry out to the Lord as David did. Cast your burdens upon the Lord - tell Him your struggles, ask Him for help and comfort. Receive His help and comfort by reading His Word.

Our God is so merciful and understanding. He is kinder than we are, more gentle and longsuffering than we are. He has exactly what we need, when we need it.

“No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11b).

First, may I point out - we are to be right before Him. Ask Him to expose sins, and then repent quickly. Be done with the sin and move on with His forgiveness.

Second - what you have, He has deemed good. What you don’t have, He has also deemed good. The struggle you are facing? It is for your good. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). If you love Him, every season of life is for your good and His glory. Trust this promise with childlike faith; trust it simply.

Third - ask. Ask, and let Him guide you with what to ask. Sometimes we know we need to come before Him in prayer but we don’t know what to say. Go anyway, dear friend. He will not turn you away. In humility, be liberal in your asking of Him. In time He will turn your focus exactly where it needs to be, and you will see His lovingkindness toward you.

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 36:7).

His Care of Creation || Friday Magnify

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together."
Psalm 34:3

If you look closely on the left leaf, you’ll see a little black dot. You may be familiar with what it is - this is a common childhood experience! The dot is the head of a caterpillar, ready to come out of its egg. Our neighbor offered us some of her milkweed a few days ago; she had noticed eggs on the leaves and wanted my kids to have the chance to watch them hatch and grow. (Another thanksgiving of mine this week - our thoughtful neighbor.)

In the last two days we have watched the three itty bitty eggs hatch, and three itty bitty caterpillars emerge and start eating the milkweed leaves. They will grow and grow until they decide it’s time to stop and make a cocoon. Not long after that we will, hopefully, watch them emerge as Monarch butterflies!

How much of life happens around us when we are about our own business?! I could never possibly keep track of it all, and yet our God does. He watches over every single person on the planet, as well as every other living thing. So much happens in the spaces we rarely see. But He sees it, and never loses sight of any of it. He holds each part of our universe together, in just the right way. How incredible, how vast His reach!

This week I am humbled by His creativity and care for creation. And so very thankful He lets us be part of it and learn about what He has made and kept. Stop this weekend and take a peek at the world around you - may it renew your awe of Him!

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen -
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
O Lord our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8:3-9

Giving Good Gifts

“‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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!’”
Matthew 7:9-11

***

“I’m going downstairs to work on sharpening,” my husband said as he walked by me. “This kitchen knife is dull, right?”

I nodded, and thanked him in advance for sharpening it. The boys bounded down the stairs after him.

A few minutes later, my oldest came back up and started rummaging around in the living room.

“Mom,” he said as he walked back into the kitchen with a paper. “I need some tape, I’m folding this together to make it thick so Dad can test the knife on it.”

That’s pretty unnecessary, I thought as I grabbed the tape.

“Here bud.” I handed him a piece of tape and put the roll away.

“Mom, I need more,” he said.

“You really don’t…it’ll hold together just fine, and then Daddy will tear it.”

“Yeah but Mom,” he pointed to the sides. “I need a piece here and here.”

I reluctantly pulled two more pieces off the roll and gave them to him.

“Thanks Mom!” he beamed and raced back to the basement.

I turned and went back to cooking, realizing how stingy I can be.

If your son asks for bread, will you give him a stone? God is good at giving good gifts.

I didn’t want to waste tape on a paper that would be ripped up - but, really? An extra piece of tape wasn’t going to be a problem.

My children come to me and ask for things all the time. It’s a normal part of childhood, yes? If we, being sinful people, know how to give our children good gifts - how much more God gives good gifts to us. He is our perfect Father!

But after this interaction with my son, I realized I need to take a better look at how God gives me good gifts. There are times I am not as generous with my kids as God is with me. God provides food, clothing, sunshine; He gives us rain to grow crops; He graces our days with laughter and joy; He leads us to good books and podcasts and conversations with friends. He gives us encouragement through unexpected forms, and some of the material possessions He brings us are simply to put a smile on our faces. We have so much to thank Him for, He is infinitely generous!

When our kids come and ask for something, how do we respond? Do we answer out of laziness or apathy? Do we guilt them and withhold things because they haven’t been “good enough” that day? (If there is disobedience or an icky attitude, deal with it right away so that the relationship is restored asap. Repentance and forgiveness. Done. Can you imagine if God withheld His mercy and goodness from us like we sometimes do with our kids?!)

Sometimes we don’t recognize things as being a gift. To me, it was just a piece of tape being wasted on a paper. To my son, it was a necessary adhesion so that he could make his dad proud. It might be just a book, just five minutes of your time, just a glass of water, just a trip to the store, just ______. But to our children, it is often much more.

We have the perfect role model when it comes to giving good gifts. May we humbly ask Him to make us like Himself, and then look for ways to bless our children. We can learn from the best and be good at this!

Let The People Praise Him

Psalm 67

God be merciful to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us,
That Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.

Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
For You shall judge the people righteously,
And govern the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

Mornings bring a peaceful beauty, untouched by the day. I let the dog out and stand on the back steps admiring the dew on the grass, the fog in the air, the birds chirping from the trees. Have you ever noticed how joyful they are when they wake up?

Sometimes I make it out to the garden in the calm, but more often the day has already started and my two sidekicks run along the fence with me.

I can’t get over the beauty. How do melons and squash plants know to send their little tendrils out, curling around anything they feel? Their spirals captivate me.

In years past, I tried to maintain tomato plants within the wire cages - this year, I have some in cages and one gorgeously unruly tomato plant sprawling across its bed. I look at it and laugh, and I am learning that plants are designed to grow. They know what to do, I’m just the assistant.

What a gift it is, that the earth would yield her increase. We harvest cucumbers and thank God between bites for each one, a means of provision for our family.

Let all the people praise You, O God; let men and women and children see Your handiwork and give You glory. You are a good God, and a wonderful Creator!