Because He Cares.

My devotional book gives a list of verses at the end of every entry that it used within that day's message. Often times I can identify them before I've even looked them up, but that doesn't dissuade me from my practice of searching for the verses in my Bible and reading them in context. 

Today I found myself reading the familiar passage in 1 Peter 5.7, "..casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." I often heard that verse quoted for the application to 'cast off anxieties,' with an introspective encouragement to make sure you are doing just that and not holding on to anything that might be hindering your walk with the Lord. But today I was struck with that little phrase that ends the sentence. It's one we've heard so many times but I think we usually just take for granted with an 'I know that already' thought and never truly let it sink in.

Because He cares for you.

He cares. For you. That's it. No fancy language needed. It's not saying shame-on-you for having held on to anxieties, we can get into the repercussions of that later. Peter is simply punctuating his instructions with truth. 

The next verse had me flip over to Paul's expansion on this thought in Ephesians 3. Knowing Paul, he likes to be long-winded at times, but I like to think of that as his passion for the Lord coming out to the extent that he can't even get words out fast enough to communicate God's glory, Paul's gratitude and the urgency of his message. We find ourselves coming into an already running thought in verse 17, 

"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints [here it is, remember that part where God cares?] what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 

Whew! Breathe, Paul! Can you catch his passion for the topic? I can hear him getting fired up, "God cares! And I'm trying to give a glimpse of how much!" It's a love that surpasses knowledge.  Surpasses our anxieties, our guilt, our failures. It surpasses how we feel about God. That's a level of caring I can't even fathom. 

Of all we have to be thankful for on this day, I am eternally grateful for this truth. That because of His great love, "we are not consumed" for we have a God of mercy. That we can rest in the assurance that He cares. And it is only because He cares that we are.