CAST YOUR CARES UNTO THE LORD

CAST YOUR CARES UNTO THE LORD.

Mudi hung up the phone. She had just spoken to her house keeper. Prices had gone up; yet again. They were climbing up so fast like it was some kind of competition.  How long would this keep happening?

She shifted her attention back to the report she was reading and before long her mind began to drift. Her children were due back at school in a couple of weeks and school fees had doubled from the last term. She was not even judging the school. How could she? At the last parents meeting, it had been discussed so this was hardly surprising.

Her driver had been on the fuel queue for more than three hours and he was only just getting to the fuel pump.

Slowly, Mudi laid her head on her table and prayed silently. “Abba, please help me. I am tired.” She got up and looked out of the window. The cars were beginning to slow down and the queue was getting long. She sighed! “We will be in that crazy traffic again soon” she thought.

As she was reaching for her phone, it rang and it was hubby dearest. “Hey!” He chuckled. Mudi mumbled a cold greeting in return. “Babes what’s up? Is everything alright?” “Yes” she snapped. Mudi always felt exasperated by her husband’s non chalant attitude to all that was going on . She felt that if everything was collapsing around him, he would still be chirpy. How could he possibly be so unperturbed? He was a good husband and father to their children and a good provider for their family. A few times when bills were delayed in being settled, he would take full responsibility and sort everything out as soon as he was able. Even at those times he was always calm. Mudi on the other hand would be fretting, grumbling, complaining and grouchy.

Her husband was calling to remind her about an event the following evening

“You must cheer up my dear, I thought you might want to pick up a new outfit. I will put something through to your account. Get yourself a hot number, ok” Mudi erupted “In this day and age? Which hot number? When prices are flying sky high? Do I not have more than enough clothes to choose from?” 

“Oh dear”, said her husband. “I thought that would make you happy. Never mind then. See you at home.”

Mudi immediately regretted her outburst. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she just loosen up?  “LORD, please help me.” She whispered just as her driver called and said he was downstairs to take her home.

Travelling through heavy traffic always takes its toll on the driver, the passenger and even the car. Mudi got home more stressed than before and hubby was already there. Thankfully her children were staying over at her sister’s place for the holidays.

That night as Mudi lay beside her husband in bed, she apologised for her attitude earlier. “AK, I am so sorry. I just can’t seem to help myself. I am worried that things will become worse. How are we going to cope? And the fact that you are never bothered irritates me further.” As  always her husband AK, smiled. “Mudi, I think we have to start by changing your name.” he chuckled. “But seriously, why are we Christians who go to church and read the Bible; if you will still get anxious about every negative thing you hear? The Bible says” “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5 :7 NIV and I honestly do take it literally. Let me start by giving you a pet name” Ak smiled “Ayo mi” Do you like it? he grinned “So as I was saying, do you remotely imagine that I never get overwhelmed myself? I most certainly do but I just hand it over to God. Because there are so many things going on out there that you and I cannot control or change. So I made a choice.” He got up and went to sit on his wife’s side of the bed which prompted her to get up too. “Do you know that four years ago when I was still at that telecoms company, my blood pressure was really bad. And you know all the pills I was popping then. Maybe you would have noticed that I don’t take them any more if you were not too wrapped up in anxiety. Ayo mi dropped her jaw “Are you for real?” She asked. “What happened? What did you do? How?” He husband shushed her and continued. “I worried about everything then, everything. And one day the doctor told me that I was walking on the edge of a massive break down if I did not stop worrying. My medications were hardly working and he said he was not going to increase the dosage. That night you were away at your sister’s with the children. I came home and cried to the LORD and He led me to several Scriptures. The one I love most is this “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 KJV “I began to really think about the simplicity of this. If laughing could replace my meds then I would laugh more. So I watched a lot of comedies that night and literally laughed myself to sleep. Needless to say I slept like a baby. I woke up and felt great.”

” After a while I did not need the comedies. I would just remember a particular scene and smile. Smiling and worrying could not stay side by side. And finally I let go of the anxiety.” Then he pulled his wife close and said” Ayo mi, we are in this together.Let me help you. It is not always going to be easy but we will make it through. Let us trust God. He will make ways for us but if you keep worrying He will not even be able to get through to you. We have a great home. Money did not make it so, but it does help. Look at our children, their progress at school. Look at me, I am asking you to get yourself something nice for tomorrow. Could I do that years ago? It was from hand to mouth. And I will never undermine your support then and now. Do not allow the devil to rob us of the joy the LORD brings to this family. We have so much to be thankful for. “

AK felt the tears slide down her face as he heard her sobs. He hugged her closer. He did not say another word but let her sob away the fear and the anxiety while rubbing her back. She eventually quietened down and sighed deeply. Then she looked up at her husband and said “Thank you my love” with a smile that melted his heart.

Dear friends, AK and Mudi (Ayo mi), could be any one of us. Some of us are so consumed by the goings on around us that we are missing out on opportunities that are hidden therein. God told us and keeps telling us to cast our burdens unto Him. Like AK said, we do not have any control over the things going on around us and so we should not allow that steal from us the joy of other things that God is doing. If you are alive today, can walk, talk, hear, smell and see you are in a great place. Imagine that just half of one of the five functions above is missing. That will not be our portion. We should stop focusing on what we do not have and rather be more appreciative of the blessings we receive daily.

God does not like it when we grumble and complain. Please let us stay away from this habit. It makes the journey longer and more burdensome. We all need rest. Let us rest in God’s love. Let us learn to lay every weight at the feet of Jesus

Please let us trust God enough to hand over our problems to Him. He is not the friend that will turn it into a gossip topic. He is not the colleague who will use it against us to get ahead. He is not even the parent who will use it to compare us with our other siblings who seem to be doing better than us.

WE CAN AND WE SHOULD TRUST GOD!

LET US CAST ALL OUR BURDENS UNTO HIM, BECAUSE HE CARES.

OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©