03 May 24 in Twenty-Ten: Scripture Memory Verse #9

“He Cares for You!”

Hi Gang,

Never a dull moment in the Tolson house!  How two people… two grown adults, can have so much excitement going on is beyond me!  But it’s all good… including the brief trip we made Saturday night to the ER at St. Paul’s Hospital at UT-Southwestern (wink).  I am living proof… LIVING PROOF, that cooking can be hazardous to your health.  I mistakenly thought my black bean soup recipe called for a pinch of “thumb”.  The 4 stitches are pretty!  I’ll save you the details and just leave you with that little tidbit and your wonderful imaginations.   

Moving on… Scripture Memory Verse #9 (and let me just say that I had this verse picked out before my cooking adventures began Saturday evening).  The Lord put this verse on my heart months ago and I’ve been praying it and studying it since.  Can’t decide which translation I love most, but I’m memorizing it for these two weeks in the following:

   “ God resists the proud,
      But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”  1 Peter 5:5b-7 (NKJV)

I can’t even begin to tell you all of what He’s teaching me through these verses – and it’s not what I was expecting!  Actually all of 1 Peter 5 is ground I’m plowing with Him– or He’s plowing me with is more like it!  But here’s something I got from it just today.  The deeper Greek meaning of “for He cares for you” is so sweet that I just about cried; that word “cares” means that the Lord “cares about” and “takes care”, or in the words of the Amplified Bible, “He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

Sometimes I just need to know that I’m not on God’s “To Do” list.    Know what I mean?  I need to know that He’s not just going down His daily list and and thinking, “Oh, yeah, Punky needs a little help today.  OK, let’s get this over with.”  I want to know… I’ve got to know, that I mean more to Him than that!  That there’s some feelings involved on His part… that there’s a supernatural hug involved in His responsive care for me.  And there is!  He’s not just like, “check – got her off the list for today”; He’s like, “Oh, sweetie girl… I know, I know, I know… come here and let me love on you!”   Sigh.

I love my husband.  Love, love, love him.  As I often say, there’s nobody I’m crazier about and nobody driving me crazier than my man JT!  I’m nuts about him and I know he is about me as well… and that he cares for me very, very much.  But sometimes we get a little out of sync with one another or a little scratchy with each other and we don’t read each other very well.  So, Saturday night was one of those nights, and after my little mishap in the kitchen I just needed some caring.  Now, I am not a “needy” woman; even after the year I’ve come through.  Not needy in that kind of drama-queen needy way, but I do like me some hugs when I’m hurt.  Hello?  Just a little affectionate care, if you will.  I thought the signs were obvious that I was in need and even dropped a few hints like, “Ouch!  Oh, honey, I cut my thumb… looks pretty bad…I might need stitches”.  JT was there to the rescue with the medical supplies which I greatly appreciated, but apparently my “I-need-a-hug” signal failed worse than our ATT cell phone service and… no hug.  Not happenin’ tonight, folks.  But I’m married to Maverick… got me a cowboy for sure and he’s a “fix-it, tape-it-up, get-‘er-done, duct-tape-to-the-rescue” kind of guy.  I do love that about him. 

OK, so I’m always looking for the lessons in everything and of course I thought this lesson was for John to learn to be full of compassion and hugs (ha).  But, alas, God is good and faithful to remind me that this one was for moi!  And He loved on me good this morning and let me know how very much He cares and how He cares.      

Oh, how I love Him!  HE IS MY EVERYTHING… and He does cares for me affectionately!  When I have hurt feelings, a hurting heart or a hurting thumb, He is there!  When I am scared, when I feel afraid, when I am confused, when I’m feeling overwhelmed, when I’ve been chastised by Him, when I need some tending to my soul… He is there.  He cares.  He is ever watchful of me…ever mindful and caring of every detail of my life… He is most careful with me!

Beloved, please know that your God cares for you… He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully all the days of your sweet life!

Praise His Wonderful Name!

Punky