Because He Cares for You

“Tell me these things!  Don’t you know that I love you!” the worried father bursts out his near=uncontrollable sobs.  His eyes filled with tears, his face red, his heart beating faster than a high school drum line, and his grip is tight like vice-grips.   Now, let’s rewind 30 minutes earlier.  It seemed like an ordinary day for this man at work.  It was business as usual.  But, when he returned home and opened the front door his day turned quickly into panic mode.  He walked into the kitchen and saw his teenage daughter curled up on the floor shaking and sobbing, holding a bottle of pills with pills spilled all over the floor.  “Nooooo!” he shouted as he ran over and scooped her up in his arms.  Thankfully she hadn’t taken any pills yet.

What followed was 20 minutes of heart to heart pouring out to each other.  The teenager explained how her anxiety level was to the point that she could hardly take it anymore.  She’s on the principal’s honor role, she’s on Student Council, captain of her team playing for 1^st place, and 1^st chair flute in the school band.  But she’s feeling divided and conquered by life.  She doesn’t want to slip up in school and miss out on any scholarships—her future is at stake!  But, if she studies more then she’ll have less time to practice sports and let her team down, or practice her flute and lose 1^st chair.  She hardly has time to see any of her friends and hasn’t been on a date for over a year.  “I can’t take it anymore!” she sobs.

Dad replies, “But, why didn’t you tell me?” “I don’t know,” she said, “I thought I could handle it myself.  I thought I could figure something out.  I didn’t want to bother you.  I was embarrassed.  I was afraid you’d be disappointed in me.  And what if you didn’t love me anymore?”  The father hugged his teenage daughter and said, “Tell me these things!  Because I Care For You!”

If a scene like this hasn’t happened at your house, I’m sure it’s happened in tons of American households these days.  Our hearts go out to young people who are trying to figure out their life’s path.  And us adults who have been around for a while know this is just a bump in the road compared to the real world.  When young people think high school pressure and drama is too much to bear, we adults say, “Oh…., just wait!”

We just observed Jesus’ ascension into heaven this past Thursday.  He went back to heaven because he was done with his mission to save us from all our sins.  The disciples were going through some drama and soon would learn what Jesus meant that he was leaving them, but that he would be with them.  Today Peter is inspired to record God’s Word and we pray that Holy Spirit would guide us to remember to take all our concerns to Jesus:

Because He Cares For You

When we are weighed down with concerns

How many things are weighing heavy on your heart today?  Is it the mountain of work left on your desk at work?  The bottomless pit of emails that need to be answered?  Maybe you are barely treading water at your job because you really don’t like it anymore?  Maybe you’re scrambling to provide for your family during these days of sky-high prices?  Then you worry about your health or the health of a family member or friend.  Who of you haven’t said, “I sure am worried for my children and grandchildren and what they will face in the future!” Then we look to the world and wonder how long it will be before the next major war breaks out—will it be Taiwan?  Iraq?  Russia?  Is the world collapsing?  Are we going to lose everything?  We are weighed down with Concerns!

That’s enough to worry about, isn’t it?  But, we know there’s more.  How can you keep up with all the appointments and carting kids all over town?  You have a schedule that’s packed like cars on I-635!  There are some days you might feel like you hardly have time to breathe. Like the young teenage girl we might want to scream, “I can’t take it anymore!”   This is when we start to feel the anxiety.  We feel torn and tugged at from every direction and worry weighs heavily on our hearts.   And this is when Satan has you primed and pumped for temptations.  He says, “Maybe you should drink more to sooth are anxiety.” Or “Why are you juggling so many things?  Just let them drop.  It doesn’t really matter anyway.” Or “Why would you take it to God?  You can handle this, right?!!  You’ll figure something out.  Don’t bother God because you got yourself into this mess anyway.  Why would he care about these little things in your life anyway?  You should be embarrassed that you’re even worrying about this!” Peter said it just right, “⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

These temptations lead to all sorts of sins to cope with the fear, embarrassment, anxiety and guilt. Alcohol.  Drugs. Caffeine, inappropriate relationships, Internet entertainment.  But, after the high and buzz are all gone, the fear, embarrassment, anxiety and guilt are still there.  So, we keep searching to soothe our anxious heart.  Some will try self-help books, 30-day cleanses, motivational speakers, read blogs, watch You-Tube videos and listen to podcasts.  But, that doesn’t give us a lasting solution either.  We Are Certainly Weighed Down With Concerns.  Satan sees this and he won’t stop his savage attacks until you give up on yourself, give up on your network of supportive Christians, and worst of all, give up on God Who Cares For You!  Curled up in a ball, overwhelmed with anxiety, and when our lives are fractured by sin is exactly when God does his best work…because that’s

When God Embraces us with his grace.

At the end of the Lords’ Prayer we say, “For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory!  Amen.”  God controls his kingdom of power, grace and glory.  The same God who controls all things has commanded us, “¹⁵ Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” (Ps 50:15).   Peter, who had plenty of anxiety and trouble in his life wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on him.” How sad if the Lord comes to us but finds us like the father found his teenage daughter and pleaded with her, “Tell me these things!  Don’t you know I love you?”  But our hearts are tempted to ask how much I should cast on him?  Surely God doesn’t want me to bother him with these little problems because he much bigger issues to tackle.  This is our God who embraces us with his grace!  He commands and invites us to cast all our anxiety on him!  This is because God knows you among the 7 billion people in the world by name.  Why would God want to hear from a pathetic, little sinner like you and me?  Because he sent Jesus to take care of the biggest problem already—saving you! Since God has taken care of our biggest problem—the curse of sin, don’t you think he is more than willing to take care of the little and big problems of our day to day life?  Of course he is!  “⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Trust these words because you have seen the proof in the Word made flesh!  God cared for you so much he sent his Son for you.  Jesus cared for you so much he submitted his life to the burdens, cares, anxieties, trials, temptations that we all face.  Add to that the brutal beating and being nailed to a cross.  Jesus invested his time, his thoughts, his heart, and his love in you!  Yet in all these situations what do we find Jesus doing?  Jesus cast all his cares on his Father in heaven.  Jesus is the perfect substitutionary sacrifice and embraced us with his grace in order for us to cast all our anxiety on him!  And the result?  Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension gave us freedom from the greatest anxiety of all—where we are going to spend eternity!  The empty cross, the empty tomb and the empty mountain-top give you all the proof you need that God Embraces You With His Grace!

Now what do we get to do with God’s amazing grace in Jesus Christ?  Peter said, “⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”  The devil wants us to be prideful and try to handle all our anxiety on our own.  He wants us to try and figure it out.  He wants us to pull up our boots straps and get it together.  He wants you to doubt God and even blame God.  But, as God’s dearly loved child equipped with the promises of your gracious God, you know better.  We humble ourselves before our gracious God trusting that he will work out all things for our good.  Think of the disciples in the boat with ankles getting wet and learning to trust in Jesus.  Think of Elijah in the cave and learning to trust in the Lord.  Also, we are humble because we know he has plans to bless us in due time.  Then we resist the devil “standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”  No surprises!  We are living in a sin-infected world.  What we are going through is not unique, but common to all people while living here.  But, we believe in God who Embraces Us with His Grace!

Where does this leave us?  With humble trust in God’s plans and timing and with all our anxiety cast upon God, we can follow the final encouragement from Peter: “¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”  You are in Christ, that’s where you are.  It is Christ, the Good Shepherd, who shepherds his sheep with the spiritual food and nourishment of his Word and sacraments.  Leave here today calm in the Grace of Love of our Savior.  You are calm When God Embraces you With His Grace!

But, when you leave here, turn on your phone and read your texts and emails.  You will get phone calls from work, family, business of life with graduations, special gatherings, and then you’ll turn on the news and hear about more tragedies.  You will recognize that the world will not stop offering plenty of anxiety.  You might be tempted to curl up on the floor like a teenager full of anxiety.  But, that is the time for us to be Embraced by God’s Grace right here.  That’s the time for us to admit we are Weighed Down with Concerns.  That’s the time for us to Cast All Our Anxieties On Him Because He Cares For You!  Amen!