Not long ago I got into a discussion with a woman named Karen who wanted to pray for my healing. Of course, I never turn someone down who wants to pray for me (of course, I also told Karen what I'd like her to specifically pray about as it concerned healing; like, please ask God to heal me of my stubborn spirit and my lazy attitude about spiritual disciplines; you know, stuff like that). Anyway, after we prayed, Karen continued to press the point about God's care and compassion for “people like you, Joni, in your wheelchairs.” She pointed to 1 Peter chapter 5 where God tells us to cast all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us. She said, “Joni, God doesn’t want to hurt you. He wants to help you – that’s in His nature. He’d go to any lengths to release you from severe pain and a difficult disability.”
When Karen shared that with me, I had to think of the way God cared for Timothy in the Bible. Timothy struggled with illness; in fact, it says that he had to deal with frequent illness. God also cared for James, but James was run through with Herod’s sword because of his testimony. God cared for John, but he was exiled and left isolated on a lonely island. While I'm not saying God enjoys watching us struggle, I am saying God's Word clearly indicates He allows wounds to prick and pierce us. But that doesn’t mean He has stopped caring. God expresses His care in different ways…
When Paul sat in a prison cell, he no doubt cast all his anxiety on God, and he had the confidence that God cared about his situation. In fact, the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Take courage. As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so must you testify about me in Rome.” Well, there you have it, there’s proof God cared! Yet after that encouraging visitation by the Lord Himself, Paul remained in custody for at least two more years. Did God stop caring during those two long years? Of course not. God proves it by giving Paul the kind of peace which allowed him to write from his prison cell, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”
Now, you may not be in prison (although you might), but you may be lying in a hospital bed, or a bed at home struggling for weeks with being sick. Or you may still be laid up from your knee surgery or hip surgery. You might be struggling in your marriage, and that’s been going on for years. Well, grab hold of the truth of 1 Peter chapter 5 and do cast all your anxieties on the Lord. He may not miraculously touch your knee or hip, throw open the doors of the prison, raise you up tonight from your sick bed, or even lift you out of that wheelchair, but He will give you contentment, deep and profound, in any (and not just any) but every situation.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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