By Lisa Jenkins-Moore
The past few months have been action-packed—North Korea, Charlottesville, a full solar eclipse, wildfires in the west, Hurricane Harvey followed by Irma—and those are just the events affecting the United States. In this nation, and in the world, significant and sometimes tragic events have, are, and will continue to occur. Where will those most impacted find relief? Is there a solace beyond that of a friend, a Higher Power who sees, understands and reaches out to us with concern and compassion?
In Tawanna Jenkins’ new book, The ABC’s of Worship, we find Scriptural proof that our Creator is not just watching, but is involved in our lives. Tawanna takes each letter of the alphabet and discusses one or more attributes of God that start with that letter. In this article, we will focus on three of the C’s and one of the E’s. She writes:
CARES, CARING
Our God cares for us; He is a caring God. As human beings, we may get much of our usage of these words in a negative sense. “I don’t care! I couldn’t care less!” These statements say, “Don’t bother me with it; it’s not important to me; it’s not my concern; I don’t want to have to think about it or deal with it.” I’ve used these phrases, and you probably have, too.
Aren’t you glad to know that our God never says, “I don’t care; I couldn’t care less!” Quite to the contrary, He cares deeply and to the fullest extent possible. He is intimately concerned with His creation. The Word records that He sees a falling sparrow; in fact, the Amplified text says that one doesn’t fall without His consent! (Matt. 10:29-31). The text goes on to declare that we are of more value than many sparrows. We serve a God Who cares. I have addressed this next thought in other attributes that I have explored, but I want to once again meditate on this marvelous idea.
It is this. God cares—is concerned, interested, feels for us, etc.—but not only does He feel for us, He has capability and desire to do something about it. As I noted above, sometimes, we as human beings really may not care, but even if we do care, very often we have ability only to express feelings and give a hug or a smile or a pat on the hand. That is, so often our caring has no real power in it to alleviate suffering or bring relief. As humans, we are limited. God’s care/caring is totally different. He is interested and concerned and feels for us; and, “Thank you, Lord, You have the power to do something about our pain.” You have the ability to ‘fix it’ when no one else on earth can, and, if for reasons yet unknown to us, You don’t ‘fix it,’ You do hold us tightly, keep us together, and bring us through our difficulties. God’s caring holds with it total ability to set right whatever may be wrong or unjust; repair whatever may be broken; heal what may be sick; or just hold us with the sweetest of embraces when we need to feel that care!
We need to give our cares to our capable and caring God and let Him handle them for us. More often than not, we can’t remedy whatever concerns us, so why don’t we just give our cares to Him? (See I Peter 5:7; 2 Chronicles 16:9).
COMFORT, COMFORTING, COMFORTER
How often do we need this attribute of our God! No one passes through life without some sort of sorrow, disappointment or heartbreak. It is at these times that we can run to our Daddy God (Abba) and absorb the comfort that only He can give.
Friends and family try to comfort us, even as we also try to comfort others. Unfortunately, the comfort that we can give is usually only words; and even then, we can only say them; we can’t bring them to pass. “It’ll be alright. Don’t worry! Don’t cry!” You’ve probably said these very things to people you care for or love. Yet, outside of God’s intervention, it may not be alright. They may have great need to go ahead and worry or cry because our words are just that: words.
But when we run to our Daddy God with our hurt or disappointment or betrayal, He has the capability to do more than just say something; He has the ability to actually do something about our difficulty. We can go to Him, and He will not reject us. We can, figuratively, sit in His lap as our little ones have done when they needed comfort. As we did with our children, He will wrap His arms around us and pat our backs and say, “It’ll be alright.” And when He says, “It’ll be alright,” it really means something because not only can He say it, He can take the actions to bring it to pass for us, to set the situation right, to alleviate the pain, to mend the broken heart or relationship. No one else can do for us what He can do. I am so glad for the comfort that we can receive from the Comforter! (See Psalm 23:4; Psalm 94:19; Psalm 119:52)
ENOUGH
It was reported that a multi-millionaire of yesteryear was once asked the following question. “How much is enough?” The rich man answered, “Just a little bit more.” However, most of us may answer that question in what might be considered a more reasonable manner. Enough food is an amount sufficient to nourish our bodies and to keep our energy levels sufficiently high to perform whatever activities are part of our lives. Enough clothing is clothing that is adequate to keep us warm in winter and (relatively) comfortable in summer. Enough gasoline is a quantity that will take us at least to the next service station. Enough money is an amount sufficient to buy any items actually needed or to pay any bills coming due before our next paycheck or other support comes.
Whatever your desire level, however much you need to fill whatever vacuum, large or small, our God is ENOUGH. And the beauty of that thought is this: even if there are things lacking in other arenas, having the Presence and Power of God operating strongly in our lives will overflow to fill other vacuums—not enough friends, He will be your Friend. Not enough money, He will meet those needs as you walk in covenant relationship with Him. Not enough strength, He will carry you. In every area of your life, God is enough if you allow Him to fill that spot. When I have enough, I am no longer needy. (See Psalm 107:9; 2 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 12:9)
The ABCs of Worship is filled with word definitions for each attribute of God and Scriptural truth as the foundation for each attribute. I encourage you to grab a copy next year when it becomes available on Amazon Kindle. Until then, know God is a caring comforter who is more than enough!
To contact Lisa or follow her blog, visit LisaJenkinsMoore.com
