God cares
(God says,) Call to me in times of trouble.
I will save you, and you will honor me. ~ Psalm 50:15 (NCV)
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
Lord, there is a lot of trouble in the world -- even in my life. But there is also a lot of you to go around. Your ability and desire to care is greater than the size of all the problems combined. You really do want us to relax, follow your directions, and let you take care of us. Of course, I like to be in charge of my life -- even if that means having to worry about everything. But I'm learning to think and act differently. It's too hard to carry all of these troubles around with me. It's a lot easier to give them to you. Help me to do that even more than I'm already doing it. Help me to give all my worries and cares to you. It gives me confidence knowing that you care about me. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
