Does God Care ~ Part 2

Hello again!    And welcome back to our discussion on "Does God Care?".

I say, "welcome back" because - in this question that someone wrote, there was more than one question on their paper.

The first question was: "Does God really say in the Bible that He really cares about me"?

The second question is:  "If God does care about me, then why do I still feel_______________?"

Now, this person did fill in the blank with something they feel, but you can also fill it in with something you feel.    Such as....depressed, hopeless, doubtful, lonely, fearful, inferior, etc...

This is a VERY common question that many people ask themseleves.

Have you ever heard the saying:  "You can't always trust your feelings"?    Well, there's alot of truth to that.   There is a difference between facts and feelings.

I may feel very fearful about something.  Perhaps I've had a bad experience in the past that creates a fear everytime I think, see, hear something, or I am somewhere in particular.   In most cases, there is likely no real danger at the time, but because of those things reminding me of the past, I begin to fear.  

Fear is the emotion that I have at that moment, but the lack of real danger is the fact.   I could yield to my emotions and allow my fears to drive me to anxiety attacks, or withdrawing from those around me, or be completely overwhelmed and not think straight - saying or doing things that aren't helpful.  

Or, I could gather myself together enough to pray, and begin to think about the facts, and ask God to show me what is reality and what is my feelings.  Then, I can act or respond better to the facts.

It could be loneliness.   I could FEEL lonely, but yet have all kinds of family and friends around me that do care about me.   Feeling lonely is the emotion, yet I would still have to evaluate the facts around me.   Perhaps I'm just having a bad day and I'm having a self-pity party.   Then the feeling is loneliness that I FEEL....not the facts that I have people around me who do care.

Yeah, well Mr.G, that sounds good, but the reality is you don't understand what I'm going through....

True...I may not specifically, but I do understand what it is like.

Oh Yeah ... right ~ NO WAY !!??

WAY!   Awhile back, I struggled with a tough case of depression.   It took me a little over a year to get through it.   What medication did I take???   What therapist did I go to???   The Word of God.

Oh~ get off your religious horse Mr.G!   That sounds like righteous blah, blah, but everybody knows that's not reality!  


BUUUZZZZZZZ ~ wrong answer!

The Bible taught me ALOT when I went through that....so much, that I began changing the way I viewed life and myself.   I realized that I wasn't alone in dealing with it, and that I had a way out it.
Huh....yeah well.... so.... what did the Bible really teach you?  What do ya mean?

Well, I spent alot of time in Psalm's.   I had a Godly mentor challenge me to observe the life of David, and really pay close attention to how he dealt with things.    So...I did.

Wow!   Did you know that out of the 150 books in Psalm's, David wrote 73 of them?   AND...did you know that out of those 73 he wrote, that in 47 of those, David cried out for help, for mercy, for God to hear his prayers??   That is OVER HALF....and almost 3/4 of the Psalm's he wrote!!!

Yeah, that's nice.....So what???!!!!

That means that David - whom God called a man after his own heart (I Sam.13:14/Acts 13:22) - struggled with fear, anxiety, discontentment, worry, disillusion, and depression!!   And David is one of the most famous men in the Bible!!

Dude!   So that means since David felt that way, it's okay for me to feel that way too!!?

Mmmmm......Noooooo.  David knew that he needed to put his feelings aside and trust in God.   In ALL of those 47 Psalm's where David pleads for help from God, he also makes statements like.....

"My defense is of God.....I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness...."  (Ps.7)
"But I have trusted in Your mercy, my heart will rejoice in Your salvation..."  (Ps.13)
"I trust in You......He will bring my feet out of the snare....."   (Ps.25)
"God is my helper....He has delivered me out of my troubles...."   (Ps.54)
"You are my God....abundant in mercy.....You alone are God...."  (Ps.86)

You see????   David didn't rely on medications and therapy to pull himself out of his troubles....He relied on God....alone!    He put His thoughts toward God...and turned from his own misery.

For me, when I began taking my focus off my fears, concerns, and "woe is me" attitude, and began trusting in God's character and God's promises - it is then, things began to change.   I began to pull out of the depression.

Oh ~ I still have a "wrestling match" with it every once in awhile, but it does not have the control over me anymore.   As a matter of fact, it is getting less and less that I deal with it.    Why?  

"For to be fleshly minded is death, but to be Spiritually minded is life and peace......For if you live according to the the flesh, you will die; but if you live by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body and you will live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God - these are the sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out 'Abba, Father'!"   (Romans 8:6,13-15)

When we live according to our flesh.....whether it's fear, anxiety, self-pity, pride, deceit, lust, covetting....or whatever, we die in our own selves - gaining nothing.   When we submit our minds, body....AND FEELINGS to God and live according to what He desires for us (by His Spirit) then He promises us life and peace!!!

You see, it's not a question of "If God cares for me, why do I still feel......." but instead, a response that says, "God DOES care for me, and doesn't want me to feel _______________ because He is greater, and He can give me the strength to rise above that!"

Soooooo.....the next time you want to say "God must not be near, or hear my prayers, because I feel _____________"......remember, that is emotion speaking.....not fact.   Look in the Bible for some of God's promises and read them a couple of times over.   Accept them, and trust that God will keep His promises.

"...For [Jesus] Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'; so that we may say boldly: 'The LORD is my helper, I will not fear...."   (Hebrews 13:5b-6a)


Mr.G