The month of December can easily become a time of heightened anxiety. Buying Christmas gifts, planning holiday parties, deciding where the family is going to gather, and increased financial pressures, are common sources of anxiety. Loneliness can be magnified at Christmas as our culture has encouraged individuals to become more disconnected from family and community.
My friend, whatever your burden during the holiday season, there is no one who loves you and will carry your burden like Jesus!
In fact, did you know that the Bible actually COMMANDS us to give our problems to God? In fact, to refuse to cast our cares on God places us at odds with Jesus who loves us more than we love ourselves. The Bible says:
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:5-7
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” is a quotation from Proverbs 3:34. Humility is essential to developing a habit of constantly giving God all of our cares. Jesus taught us in the first BE-Attitude to be poor in spirit; which means to understand our absolute need for God for everything we do. Indeed, we need Him in order to exist at all!
We are completely bankrupt without God.
If we do not have a humble attitude towards God and towards others, we place ourselves in a terrifying spot: God is positioned against us. This thought should drive us to our knees. We are no match for God. Why would we want to oppose Him? He is the only One who loves us as we were made to be loved.
Pride is an evil manifestation of the enemy. Pride deludes us and demands that God bless us in light of what we believe we deserve. Humility allows us to experience the reality of grace and know that God blesses us on the basis of who He is. It has nothing to do with us. Pride is independence from God. We often call it “self-reliance.” Pride disguises itself so well that we can even become proud of our humility. 🙄
The mindset of casting all our care on God comes from knowing God for who He is.
True humility is revealed by our ability to cast our care upon God. Pride presumes we must take things into our own hands when God promised to take care of everything. Jesus said:
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:31-34
My friend, when we seek to know God—for who He is—we naturally give Him all our burdens.
God is the obvious solution to every problem.
As I sit here and type these words, I’m allowing the things I’m worried about to come into my mind. As each problem rises to the surface of my mind, I’m praying, “God I give this to you, help me to not take it back. I give all I have to You and know that You will guide me in the path of life. Free me to serve You today!”
