God Cares
A devotional by Mirachelle Canada
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” –Psalm 55:22 (ESV)
Have you ever stood in front of the mirror and admired your best feature?
In my online dating days, there was often a question about choosing your best feature. Most people base this off of what they get the most complimented on. Mine was my smile. In fact, I prided myself on it.
Statistically, the smile is the first thing people notice. It often indicates our current mood and gives off the signal to approach or get away. I never thought my smile asset would change, but I was wrong.
Stress comes in many forms, especially when we deal with it internally. In the Bible book of Psalm, David tells us to “cast our burdens (or cares) on the Lord” with the following promise that He will sustain us. Why? Because God will never let the righteous be moved (or shaken). To be righteous is to place our complete faith in God, entering into covenant with Him, and by such faith, seeking to live according to His word. I seek to be righteous, but sometimes I stumble in my efforts.
In the past year, I have been stressing about a combination of factors that involuntarily led to my clinching my jaw at random times and grinding my teeth at night. Because of this my teeth have shifted inside my mouth, forcing the lower front teeth to push together, and creating a gap in my upper teeth that I now notice in pictures, especially when I smiled. I was crushed and frustrated. My best asset was no longer working for me!
Recently, I attended a conference where my best asset usually gives me confidence. However, because of my growing problem I was losing it. During one afternoon, I took a nap and literally felt my teeth shifting in my mouth while I slept. After dinner, I had to rush back for a late-night meeting before attending the “worship and write session.” After the meeting, I got a quick look in the mirror and what did I notice? My gap was bigger! I pointed to it and shouted, “Look, Lord, my gap is growing! Make it stop!”
Yes, I felt silly. My moving teeth was a crisis, but only to me. I also know people going through real major health crises that needed more of God’s intervention. So, when I sat down to write during the worship time, I tried to focus on things other than my silly teeth.
In Psalm 5:12 (ESV), David says, “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” As we wrote, two ladies from the conference staff prayed for people. I chose not to go up for prayer, but to write and let God flow through my pen. After the prayer lines were complete, one of the prayer partners gave a word from the Lord and said, “There is someone here who is worried about their teeth...”
I literally burst out laughing and hung my head as I felt the Lord’s shoulder-poking prompt, ‘That means you.’ I walked over to the prayer partner and immediately explained why I felt so foolish, but she immediately reminded me that God cares, even in the small things. He cares about the things we care about. He cares about the righteous who live by faith, but in return we have to have faith in Him to take all our cares.
I had to give God my teeth, which He told me He would fix so it would no longer hinder me. Yes, they are just teeth, but He showed me cares about them as much as I do.
Do you have a need? A growing problem? Small or large, cast your cares upon the Lord. He cares, and He’s ready and waiting to show you just how much.
~*~
Author Bio:
Statistically, the smile is the first thing people notice. It often indicates our current mood and gives off the signal to approach or get away. I never thought my smile asset would change, but I was wrong.
Stress comes in many forms, especially when we deal with it internally. In the Bible book of Psalm, David tells us to “cast our burdens (or cares) on the Lord” with the following promise that He will sustain us. Why? Because God will never let the righteous be moved (or shaken). To be righteous is to place our complete faith in God, entering into covenant with Him, and by such faith, seeking to live according to His word. I seek to be righteous, but sometimes I stumble in my efforts.
In the past year, I have been stressing about a combination of factors that involuntarily led to my clinching my jaw at random times and grinding my teeth at night. Because of this my teeth have shifted inside my mouth, forcing the lower front teeth to push together, and creating a gap in my upper teeth that I now notice in pictures, especially when I smiled. I was crushed and frustrated. My best asset was no longer working for me!
Recently, I attended a conference where my best asset usually gives me confidence. However, because of my growing problem I was losing it. During one afternoon, I took a nap and literally felt my teeth shifting in my mouth while I slept. After dinner, I had to rush back for a late-night meeting before attending the “worship and write session.” After the meeting, I got a quick look in the mirror and what did I notice? My gap was bigger! I pointed to it and shouted, “Look, Lord, my gap is growing! Make it stop!”
Yes, I felt silly. My moving teeth was a crisis, but only to me. I also know people going through real major health crises that needed more of God’s intervention. So, when I sat down to write during the worship time, I tried to focus on things other than my silly teeth.
In Psalm 5:12 (ESV), David says, “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” As we wrote, two ladies from the conference staff prayed for people. I chose not to go up for prayer, but to write and let God flow through my pen. After the prayer lines were complete, one of the prayer partners gave a word from the Lord and said, “There is someone here who is worried about their teeth...”
I literally burst out laughing and hung my head as I felt the Lord’s shoulder-poking prompt, ‘That means you.’ I walked over to the prayer partner and immediately explained why I felt so foolish, but she immediately reminded me that God cares, even in the small things. He cares about the things we care about. He cares about the righteous who live by faith, but in return we have to have faith in Him to take all our cares.
I had to give God my teeth, which He told me He would fix so it would no longer hinder me. Yes, they are just teeth, but He showed me cares about them as much as I do.
Do you have a need? A growing problem? Small or large, cast your cares upon the Lord. He cares, and He’s ready and waiting to show you just how much.
~*~
Author Bio:
Mirachelle Canada is a writer, playwright, screenwriter and theatre director/producer from Northern Virginia. She teaches television production at C.D. Hylton Senior High School.
She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University and is a member of Act One: Hollywood Film & Television Writing Program, American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), ACFW Virginia Chapter, The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, and Your Novel Blueprint.
Mirachelle is passionate about awakening creativity and the gifts of God in everyone. She is currently working on her first historical fiction novel set during WWII, inspired by her time studying theatre education in London, England.
In her spare time, she also writes and directs Christmas and Easter passion plays at Christ Chapel Assembly of God in Woodbridge, Va.
~*~
Connect with Mirachelle:
Website: www.mirachellecanada.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirachellecanada/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mirachelle77/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/miracan
She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University and is a member of Act One: Hollywood Film & Television Writing Program, American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), ACFW Virginia Chapter, The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, and Your Novel Blueprint.
Mirachelle is passionate about awakening creativity and the gifts of God in everyone. She is currently working on her first historical fiction novel set during WWII, inspired by her time studying theatre education in London, England.
In her spare time, she also writes and directs Christmas and Easter passion plays at Christ Chapel Assembly of God in Woodbridge, Va.
~*~
Connect with Mirachelle:
Website: www.mirachellecanada.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirachellecanada/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mirachelle77/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/miracan
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