“Lord, do you not care…” Luke 10:40. “Teacher, do you not care…” Mark 4:38
Yesterday, I was involved with a Zoom prayer meeting with others from our church. We were joined by a woman who needed prayers and who shared her story. Her story was one of decades of physical pain and unresolved medical issues. As medical condition piled on top of another, she still believed in the power of prayer and healing. She brought her broken body to be laid at the feet of the Healer. Sometimes it takes more faith to ask for prayer than the one who forms the prayer. I became overwhelmed for her and felt prayerfully incompetent. I muddled my way through my prayer but her face and circumstances lingered in my mind and heart throughout the night. First thing this morning, she was at the top of my list. I didn’t consciously utter the words above, but God knows every hidden thought. I asked the Lord for her thorn of unresolved pain and suffering to be removed. But God knew what my spirit really wanted to say, ‘Lord, don’t you care?’
Just as He does so well, God answered a question I never expressed with words through these verses above written from two stories in the Bible. Martha asked Jesus this question when she was busy in the kitchen serving as her sister remaining in the other room with Jesus. The disciples woke Jesus out of his sleep with these same words as the boat rocked and the waves crashed onto the deck over the side of the ship. Both friend and followers accused Jesus of the same thing… ‘Don’t you care?’ So, I feel somewhat better having these feelings if God allowed them in the Bible. I assume the important lesson is not that these feelings are sinful, rather they are intersections of what we do not know and the acceptance of what God desires to accomplish through these circumstances. Like Martha, we sometimes lose sight of the loving goodness of Jesus. Like the disciples, we sometimes lose sight of the miraculous power of Jesus. Jesus responded according to the facet of His character that each individual needed to see. One response was a lesson while the other was a rescue.
Situations arise that tempt our hearts to doubt in God’s goodness…His power…His presence. Sometimes we may feel God in the next room unconcerned about what is concerning us. On other occasions we may feel as if Jesus is unaware of our troubles much like the disciples. But in both cases, Jesus talked it through and deeper fellowship was experienced. God cannot settle our questions and concerns unless we honestly bring them to Him. He is aware of our concerns and wanting to calm our hearts and reveal another facet of His character. His eye is always upon us and his heart is always for us.
‘Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. [Psalm 55:22]’ 1 Peter 5:7 AMPC
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