Casting our Cares Upon Him

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When I was a kid, I listened to records of "Psalty the Singing Songbook."  Psalty was a large blue hymnal-person-thingy that would hang out with kids and sing songs with them.  He was kindof like Barney, but a weird looking book.  For some reason I don't think people would respond to Psalty today like they did back in the 80's. :)

Anyway, I LOVED listening to Psalty. I knew every song, and I dreamed of being a kid on the Psalty videotapes.  But there was one song I loved more than any other song:  "I Cast All My Cares Upon You."  I remember singing this song every time I was scared or felt sad.

To this day, this song comes to my mind frequently. Tonight I was reminded once again of this song.

This past 2 weeks I have had to deal with a situation that is so big, so overwhelming, that I had no other option but to lay it at God's feet.  You know those problems you have in life that just immediately lead you to pray, because you know it is not humanly possible to handle it?  This situation does not involve me or my family, but someone I care for greatly.  I am really the only person bearing her burdens right now, and her life has become my life for the past 2 weeks.  I find that this situation is on my mind every single minute, and affecting every single thing I do.

At first, laying it down at God's feet was easy.  It was the natural thing to do.  It was the "of course" option.  Then a few other people got involved who helped carry the load.  It was nice having them to lean on and talk with about the situation.  I found that they were helping me to bear the burdens which I felt so heavily weighed on my shoulders.  And as I relied more on them, I found myself relying less on prayer.  Then today, I felt the weight completely on my own shoulders again, as though I was handling this all on my own.  I realized that I did 3 things:

1) I first trusted in God, and put all my faith in Him.

2) Then I started to put my trust in other people, and rely on them for strength.

3) Then I started to put my trust in myself, that I could handle this in my own strength

The weight felt oppressive.  It felt heavy.  It made me tired.  I couldn't focus. I got mad.  I said things I shouldn't have said.  And I took the load away from God, and away from others, and put it all on myself, and that's when things turned ugly.

How many times do we do this to ourselves?  So tonight, 25 years after I first heard that song, it played softly in my heart again, because the words are so true. When we are faced with a situation that is so big, so overwhelming, so troubling...this is what we need to do:

I cast all my cares upon you
I lay all of my burdens
Down at your feet
And any time, I don't know
What to do
I will cast all my cares upon you

Today if you're facing a hard situation, instead of trying to talk to others about it and let them carry the load with you, or trying to handle it on your own, cast all of your cares upon Him.  

_____________

P.S. If you were a fan of Psalty, you have to check out this funny video that Saddleback did about Psalty- a parody of VH1's "Behind the Music":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XHFBZ8E4nQ