“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Pet. 5: 7). God
cares for us in the sense of having a personal interest in us. We are the
work of his hands, and as such he is interested in our prosperity. He
watches over the development of our lives; he notes every step of
progress. The one who plants a flower, waters it, cares for it, and
watches the development of each tiny shoot and bud, cares more for that
flower and has a deeper interest in it than has the one who merely stops
for a few minutes to admire its full-blown beauty and to enjoy its
fragrance. To the one it is only one plant out of many, but to the other
it has a special meaning and attraction and worth, because its bloom and
fragrance are the result of his labor, care, and patience. It is his
plant. So it is with God. He gave us our being; he has nourished and
protected us and watched us develop day by day; he is interested in us and
desires our lives to bloom and send forth a fragrance of trueness and
purity all around. Let us so live that he will not be disappointed in us.
He cares for us because he created us for his glory and to fill a place in
his eternal kingdom. He created us, not merely that we might have an
existence, but for a purpose for himself. He wants us to make a success of
our lives, not simply for our own advantage, but to fill the place for
which he created us for his purpose and glory. And because of this he will
use every endeavor to help us succeed in our lives.
He cares for us in the sense that he loves us. “The Father himself loveth
you.” “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” “God so loved the
world.” He has a deep and abiding affection for every soul, and even when
we stray away from him into the depth of sin, his heart yearns over us as
a mother over her erring boy, only his love is stronger than a mother’s.
He sends his servants out to seek the lost, and his Spirit to plead with
them. Sinner, he loves you. Though you have grieved him and have repelled
his Spirit over and over again, yet his eye beams with pity, his heart is
tender with love, and his arms are outstretched toward you to welcome you
to his embrace.
If he thus cares for the rebellious and neglectful sinner, how much does
he care for his own obedient, loving children! How tender his love!
Sometimes in a dark and troublesome hour when his face seems hidden, we
may feel as did the disciples when they cried out in their distress,
“Carest thou not that we perish?” Ah, he did care. At once he arose and
rebuked the elements and brought the disciples safely to the land. Yea, he
_does_ care. “He careth for _you_.” His help may sometimes seem delayed,
but it will come and just at the time to be most effective. In your joys
and victories and seasons of refreshing he cares for you and also in the
time of trial, of persecution, of heaviness and longing, and of bitterness
of soul. In it all he cares, and he will bring you through when he sees
the soul refined and fitted for his purpose. “He careth for you.” Believe
it. Let your soul exult in it and shout it aloud. Or if you can in your
sorrow only whisper it, let your heart still say: “He loves and he cares.
I will trust him and be content.”
Again, he cares for us in the sense of taking care of us. His care is
proved in his making so beautiful a world to be our home. The flowers, the
fruits, the grains, the grasses, the animals, the sunshine, the winds, the
rains, and all were made to minister to man’s need, comfort, and
happiness. For us these exist. That we may be fed, he causes the earth to
bring forth bountifully. That we may be clothed, he makes the cotton and
the flax to grow out of the soil, the wool upon the sheep, and causes the
silkworm to spin its glossy house. That we might be warmed, he made the
coal, the gas, and the forests. That we might be protected, he made the
stone, the wood, the iron, and the clay that we might have houses.
He cares also for our bodies, that we may have health. He gives us pure
crystal water to quench our thirst and cool us in fever, balmy
oxygen-laden air to build us up, and countless other blessings. Above all
this, he is himself to us a Great Physician whose word heals our suffering
bodies and takes us out of the grasp of death.
He cares for us spiritually, giving us his grace to help in every time of
need—to shield in temptation, to strengthen in trial, to make strong in
adversity, courageous in danger, and valiant in conflict.
Truly, he cares for us. Let us doubt and fear no more, but commit
ourselves to him, knowing that he will “in no wise fail” us.