Carried By Our Father

Carried by Our Father

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

1 Peter 5:7

I remember a long-ago night in our Kentucky farm community. I was five years old, and my parents had taken me with them to visit neighbors. By the time we left for home, the stars were already out, and our lane looked long and dark in the moonlight, especially where the thorny blackberry bushes hung over the ditches. Quickly my dad swooped me up and carried me on his strong shoulders. The night was still dark, and the bushes still had thorns, but I felt so safe I fell asleep.

There have been many times in my adult life when I’ve been carried by my heavenly Father. And I’ve noticed that though I long to be carried away from the darkness, I’m actually carried through it, just as Daniel was saved in the lion’s den rather than from it (see Daniel 6:16-23). I confess, I don’t like the challenges and trials that often accompany daily human existence. In fact, I’ve often thought I’d like God to say, “Good morning, Sandra. This is what I plan to do today for you and your family. Is that all right?” But, of course, he doesn’t, and I’m left to choose once again whether I will trust him during the scary times.

A while back, I was intrigued by the word care in 1 Peter 5:7, so I researched it. I discovered that the word can have two meanings: our worry and God’s comfort. The worrying type comes from a Greek word meaning “to divide the mind.” How perfect. My mind is divided when I allow worries, distractions, and anxieties to interfere with my trust that my heavenly Father will carry me past life’s dark ditches and thorny bushes. So what’s my goal? To concentrate less on the situation and more on him. —SANDRA

Lord, even though I’m an adult, many times I feel like that little girl facing thorny bushes and deep, scary ditches. Help me to feel your strong arms carrying me to safety. Help me to rest in you.

God is in His heaven; God is on the throne; God is fully in charge of His world.

—J. I. PACKER, THEOLOGIAN AND AUTHOR