Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

This is a wonderful promise from God to us.  Most Christians are familiar with this verse.  But how many of us actually do it? I confess that I am not always a great caster.  I cling, complain, doubt, and worry - but cast?  Not so much. To cast our cares on Jesus means to leave them there.  So I can give my worries and cares to Jesus, but in the next 10 minutes, be worrying again!  Sound familiar? So how do we not "go back" to our worries, doubts, and fears, both little and large? Trust. Do I really trust God to handle and alleviate my cares and worries?  I have felt His beautiful peace when I truly leave all my cares with Him.  So why do I go back to anxiety?   Lack of trust. Now I must tell you, realizing that I may not trust the Lord as much as I think I do hurts.  A lot.  I have built my adult life on placing my trust in the Lord.  So when I am still capable of distrusting, I get upset with myself.  I know better....

We all do it.  Some may do it less than others, but we still do it nonetheless.  We worship our problems. Is this too strong a language?   If we focus on, meditate on, spend time thinking about, and magnify our problems, then yes, we are worshiping them! As Christians, we know that worshiping anything or anyone else other than Christ only leads to disillusion and heartache.  Worse yet, it is a huge sin. So how do we make idols of our problems? We cling to them.  We think about them day and night.  We are consumed by them. Now this is not 24/7 (hopefully!) and it is not every day. But it happenes enough to deform our character in those moments.  That is because whatever we behold, we become. Like most every other sin, at the root of it is lack of trust in God. If we don't believe that God will help, rescue, deliver, heal, or remove whatever is "getting our goat," then we simply do not trust Him. Is there any problem too big for God to handle? ...