And You Thought God Didn’t Care
“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” –I Peter 5:7
Someone asked a man, Do you think the biggest problem in the world is ignorance or apathy? The man replied, I don’t know and I don’t care. Plenty of individuals believe that about God. They believe that He is either unaware of all that concerns us or is indifferent to it. For all those who suspect God of this detached inclination…who think God doesn’t care, I have good news for you.
God does a far better job of giving evidence of His concern and interest in us than we often do for one another. It is hard to find someone that we feel really cares about us. Everyone knows about the famous, Who’s Who In America. There is also a book called, “Who’s Nobody In America”. In the book is a woman named Mildred. She has been in psychotherapy for 8 years with the same therapist and he still calls her Sarah. Now let me assure you that God is not like that. He knows you and He knows your name.
There’s a gospel song that asks, Does Jesus Care? The answer is an absolute YES! Let me tell you, He will turn heaven and earth upside down and inside out to help you. Everything about you and all that happens to you is of vital interest to God.
Sometimes people get tired of hearing our problems, especially if they last a long time. Others are willing to help us for a time and then soon their love runs out of breath. It’s not that they don’t want to help us, it is just that they have so many demands upon their time and energies that they can’t spread themselves to cover all the calls for help. It seems like all of us receive appeals for help. They come in the mail. Television brings the plight of the world’s sufferers into our homes. Sometimes we grow weary of hearing about foreign aid by our government and of problems too large and too many for us to handle. We experience Compassion Burn-Out. Well, Compassion Fatigue may be OUR problem but it isn’t God’s problem. He knows when it rains on our parade as well as when our business fails. He cares that nations are at war. He also cares that you had a disagreement with a neighbor, family member or friend. Both the small and the large problems are in His range of concern.
God is not just idly or morbidly curious about us. He is not just interested in us on a spectator level. God is willing to become involved in our problems if we will only ASK Him to become involved. When we call upon Him, He comes to us, sees our dilemma, our affliction, our sin, our struggles; and in it all, He promises to help. Does Jesus Care? Yes! How much? Enough to do something about it.
A man passing the same house everyday noticed a man working in his garden who was always whistling. Cold or hot, wet or dry, no matter what time of day—he whistled. Out of curiosity he stopped at the house to ask the man why he was always whistling. As he approached the porch he noticed a woman in a wheel chair. The man was at the side of the house in the garden still whistling. He walked out to him and the man explained. My wife is an invalid. She is blind and cannot walk and spends her life in that wheelchair. I whistle when I work so she’ll always know where I am and all she has to do is call if she needs me.
My friend, Christ is God in the flesh whistling in our dark lives. He is whistling to tell us where He is and that He is always near and that if we need Him, all we have to do is call out to Him. God is always whistling.