"I Can't"

I love God. I mean, I really LOVE Him. Today has been a tough day. Actually the last 8 days have been emotionally draining for a variety of reasons. Add to that a difficult season of parenting, which has been heightened this week, and you get a worn out momma.

Where does loving God come into the picture? Well, because He saw me lose it today and He lovingly and gently guided me back to some solid ground. I just love how He works! I think our interaction today might have been similar to when my 3-yr old has a melt-down and all I can do is leave her alone to have it and then once she's calm she sits in my lap and hugs me for awhile. This time I was the 3-yr old. Thanks to my husband, who is equally as worn out as me, I had some much needed quiet time to myself this evening. I knew where I needed to go - God's Word. And He didn't waste time in leading me to what I needed to hear.

1 Peter 5:6 - 11 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

At first all I thought I needed was to be reminded of the fact that He cares for me, so therefore I should cast my cares on Him. But this verse is couched in the middle of some other important stuff, and not by coincidence. First of all, humility is involved. In order to really cast our anxieties on God, we must say, "I can't." I can't carry my burdens myself. I can't work them out in my own strength. I can't dwell on them... Oops. I realized that in many ways I had been doing all of the above, not only with my own personal burdens, but also with the burdens of others.

Secondly, I don't know that I had ever really correlated casting my cares on Christ with resisting Satan. But today I saw that my lack of humility this week had left me defenseless against the enemy today. When I neglect to cast my cares upon Christ, it affects my ability to be alert to the enemy's schemes and to resist him. Now I know better.

What I love most about God is that for all of this showing me how I had blown it this week, it made me feel so much better! And that is because He's the "God of all grace" who is always seeking to "restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish" His children. Love Him.