Cast Your Cares Upon Him

I remember my senior year in college. I was a couple of weeks away from graduating college, so I called my mom to see if she would get me a ticket to go home. My mom was hesitant on the phone, then she said, “Wendy, we’ve moved into a smaller place. If you could get a job out there, that would be so much better. We just don’t have any room.”

I was dumbstruck. I had no place to go? I had no home to go to? I was homeless? I hung up the phone and cried. What was I supposed to do? I was going to graduate in two weeks. What then? I felt like I was in some kind of fog.

I went to class the next day, still reeling from the idea that I was homeless. While sitting in class, an older lady in my class announced to me and my friend that she was looking for someone to house sit for her, for the summer. She returned every summer to northern California, and she just needed someone to live in her house while she was gone. She asked us if we knew anyone who needed a place to stay for the summer.

I smiled at her. I told her I could do it. I didn’t have a home to go to, so I could certainly take care of her home. She was so excited, because she got that detail of her life taken care of. I was so excited because I now had a place to live.

In my mind, I wasn’t sure what I was doing with my life. The only solution I had was to head home. Looking back, that wouldn’t have been a good idea. God was watching out for me, as He always has and always will.

Living the Christian life is like riding in a speed boat on a moonless night. We can’t see what’s ahead. At any moment, we could hit something and damage our boat. God sees it all. He knows exactly what’s going to happen next. For the believer, it’s best to hang onto our life line, Jesus. Since we can’t see the future, why not cling to the One who can.

Jesus says to cast all of our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. I love that verse. He’s not suggesting we cast our cares. He’s telling us to do so. How could you go wrong with casting your cares upon God? He loves us. He knows the future. He saved us. He wants the best for us.

When I look back at my life, I see how God ALWAYS had a better plan for me. I think this would work, but it doesn’t work out. Like thinking I should go home for the summer. But God says no. And then He provides another way for me.

That summer I got to enjoy a big, beautiful house and since I had no money, it was ideal, because I didn’t need to pay rent. My boyfriend (my husband now) returned to California at that time. He moved into an apartment close by with three other guy friends. We spent that summer getting to know one another. We went on hikes, and picnics, all before the monotony of life set in. A year later, we got married. If I had moved back home right after I graduated I don’t know what would have happened in our relationship. He’d be in California and I would be in Alaska. But God worked it all out. And what I saw, at first, as something terrible, actually turned out quite nice. God is good all the time.