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Casting Your Cares

As I sit on my porch on this warm spring afternoon I can hear the songs of many different birds. Bees dance from flower to flower and the breeze quietly blows in waves through the needles on the pine trees. I hear the hum of traffic on a nearby highway and the winding of a fishing rod as my five year old next door neighbor practices his fishing skills.

 He casts his line into the grass with abandon. Not caring where it lands, just enjoying the action of doing it.

 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." I Peter 5:7 (NIV)

 "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken." Psalm 55:22 (NIV)


 As I watch him playing in his yard these verses come alive to me. He looks back and asks his daddy if he's doing it right. He wants to be strong enough to reel in the big one so he practices letting go over and over.

 Simply cast it out as far as we can.

 Sometimes we have to let the same things go over and over

 I've been pondering Matthew 18:21-22 lately,

 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (NIV)
Maybe it's not forgiving the same person for hurting us time and again seventy-seven times but perhaps it's us forgiving their one offense seventy-seven times.
Because we have to let it go again.

 Because we remember it and each time we bring it to mind we get angry all over again. 

 I remember the friend who betrayed me and the hurt it caused. Forgiving her has been an ongoing process because something will trigger a memory and I feel a familiar ache. 

 Forgiving her seventy-seven times isn't for her. It's for me. Each time I choose to forgive her I'm free allow God to grow me into the person He wants me to be. 

 Forgiving others affords us freedom to pray for them. Instead of building walls of resentment we are able to remember the good times and focus on healing. While not all relationships can be mended there are lessons learned from each one.

Casting our cares on the Lord will always have a beneficial outcome. Let Him have it. Let it go.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 5, 2016 at 7:40 PM

    Very powerful post, Suzanne!! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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