November 1, 2022 Carefree

 

Turn all your worries over to him. He cares about you.

(Peter´s 1. letter, Chapter 5, Verse 7)

 

Dear Reader,

 

I still remember receiving a call from a man I barely knew. He had moved far away and was now in financial difficulties. Despite the distance he remembered me and asked for support of a larger sum of money. He said, If I could help him, it would relieve him a lot. Of course, without any chance of repayment. He obviously considered his request more as a favor.

 

Although I could understand him well, but still I had to disappoint him. Who wouldn't benefit from such a warm-hearted gesture. Money worries can steal your sleep. Health worries, too, of course. Not to mention relationship problems. Or current world politics. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently spoke of a world that was stumbling from crisis to crisis and would only react to it with “fire drills.” He said that governments were not capable of resolutely tackling the fundamental problems, such as global warming.

 

"Pour your worries into a glass of wine..." is the name of an old German song. I doubt that alcohol could be a solution to problems. Alcohol can be a rather “strange solvent”: it dissolves marriages, families, friendships, work relationships, bank accounts and the liver. It just doesn't solve problems, doesn't solve worries.

 

I found an interesting prayer in my Bible. Sort of a "worry-avoidance prayer." It comes from a man named Agur (Proverbs, Ch. 30, verses 7 - 9): “LORD, please grant me these requests for the time of my life. I ask you for two things:  Keep lies far away from me. Don’t make me either poor or rich but give me just enough bread I need for each day. If you provide too much for me, I might say I don’t know you. I might say, “Who is the LORD?” Or I might become poor and steal. Then I would bring shame to the name of my God.”

 

It occurred to me: My God, what a prayer! Could I also pray this to you out of my heart with full conviction? Would I have the courage to say: let me be neither poor nor (yet!) rich? Provide just as much as I need for my living. That shall be enough for me. That will relieve me of unnecessary worries. That will make me more content. It will also make me grateful. Perhaps it will even give me happy hours.

 

Peter had just that in mind: do not drown your sorrows in alcohol but unload them on God. More specifically, we are to cast our cares on God. We may throw everything at God's feet that gives us a headache, that feels like a load in our stomachs.

 

Whoever goes to God with his worries and not to the little pub at the end of the street, regains his focus on the essentials. His head becomes free again. His heart becomes receptive again for the quiet tones of life: modesty, gratitude, compassion, confidence, contentment.

 

God is concerned about us! He wants to relieve us and give us new perspectives in life. Jesus Christ calls out to us (Gospel of Matthew 11:28): Come to me, all you, who are tired and are carrying heavy loads. I will give you rest.

 

Juergen Werth ( Author, song writer and Media expert) wrote these encouraging lines:

 

God wants to talk to you. He wants to listen to you. He will wait until you find the right words. You may say what you think, what you feel. You may cry and lament. You may even reproach him. And then let him speak, too. Listen to him. Gently and sensitively, he will talk to you. Wise and full of understanding. And you know you are at home.

 

Thank you for listening to me. May our good God bless you in spirit, soul, and body. 

Druckversion | Sitemap
© 2023 Hans-Peter Nann