1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
James 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
James 1:24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Last night I was in a motel room watching a documentary of the lives of four cancer patients who were told they had less than six months to live. I almost flipped to a different channel until I saw that one of the cancer patients was a three-year-old girl who had neuroblastema. Something within me began to resonate as I felt the urge to pray. This show followed the lives of these people who decided to take alternative methods to treat their cancer. A girl with advanced breast cancer was treated by an Indian Medicine Man. She lasted over a year, but still died. A man with colon cancer took special health drugs from a doctor. He died rather quickly. A woman with liver cancer went on a special diet. She lived for over two years but in the end she also died. The little girl’s parents were treating her with the same health drugs the man with colon cancer had. She appeared to be responding to the treatments. The poor girl lived with a tube that ran up her nose down into her stomach. They showed her father changing the tube. It was awful. Yet she also ended up dying after about a year.
Each patient except for the man with colon cancer actually responded for a while to the treatment and appeared to be getting better. But eventually the cancer stopped responding to the treatments and spread. The thing that overwhelmed me about this was the lack of faith these people and their families had. How awful it was to be faced with death and feel alone. How awful it was for these dying people not to have someone to carry them or to know there was someone who they could cast their cares on. Almost all responded to treatment, yet they died.
I am too much like them. I have a Savior who cares for me. Yet when I am faced with cares that Satan is going to use to overwhelm me, the last thing I seem to do is trust God. Oh my lip service is good. I may even look like a strong Christian to those around me, yet inside I am in torment. I easily forget what I looked like in the mirror, or the kind of man I am.
Faith requires belief. We must truly believe Jesus cares for us no matter what our feelings tell us. No matter if we are facing a job loss, the loss of a spouse or child, or even the loss of our own life. Without the blessed hope and true belief that He is going to carry us through our tough times and trials, we are no better off than the heathen who seeks worldly counsel and ends up living a life of stress.
Jesus, teach me to REALLY trust you. Father God, give me the faith and wisdom required to see my life with eternal eyes to see what is unseen and not dwell on what my carnal eyes see. Holy Spirit, surround me with the love of God and blessed assurance I am not alone.
TRUE STRESS RELIEF: IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS IS LORD, AND YOU BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED. COUNT ON IT!!!
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