Thankfulness Over Thoughtfulness

1 Peter 5:7 (AMPC) 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. 

Let’s be honest. We are fixers. We are solution-oriented and full of thoughts! We struggle to rest until we find peace. But how often do we equate peace with answers?

Recently I experienced a challenge. You know, one of those kinds of challenges. The kind that threatens to change all your plans, waste all your time, lose a lot of your money, and disappoint a lot of people. When I got the news, I spent a few hours in disbelief, reeling from it. Disbelief turned into panic, which turned into self-pity (“How could this happen to me after I’ve worked so hard!?”). I couldn’t tear myself away from the problem and I was grasping for people who would listen and tell me how unfair it was! I felt the pressure of coming up with a solution before the sun went down because I needed answers and a plan to move forward the next day.  Finally, I grew weary. All-over, head-to-toe, weary inside and out. Have you ever been there?

Finally I asked David to pray with me. He prayed the familiar verse above, 1 Peter 5:7, and prayed that my mind be filled with thanksgiving, weeding out all the anxious thoughts, and my mouth would turn to thanks to the Lord for helping me in this situation. “Fill up on thankfulness, not on thoughtfulness.”

Peace does not mean having everything figured out. It doesn’t mean coming up with an acceptable Plan B. Peace is something Jesus freely gives us. He holds it out to us in His nail-pierced hands while we run around frantically looking everywhere else for resources, for advice, for mental duct-tape (because surely it will fix this problem too!). But do we take a moment to look up and see Jesus at all? Are we humbling ourselves before Him, as verse 6 of 1 Peter 5 says. Because He’s there, always available. And He knows. He sees. He has provision for just this kind of problem called peace, and that is truly the answer we need more than any natural solution. It’s the exchange we need to make. Lord, I humble myself before You. I give up my panicked, frenzied, thought processing in exchange for Your peace. 

Sometimes it’s so hard to remember to open our Bibles. It’s hard to imagine taking a moment to get quiet before the Lord when we honestly have so much to work through. Things did not go how we thoughtfully, prayerfully planned them out. But let’s take comfort in the fact that He knew. People may let us down. Plans will almost certainly change. But the God who has plans for our good is also the God who is powerfully present in all of those moments when we’re looking for solutions. Let’s acknowledge Him today, ask Him for His word on the matter, get still and receive encouragement from simply Who He is.

And let’s lay down those cares and not take them up again. It’ll be tempting. But we can pray, Holy Spirit, remind me that I gave this to You. I won’t take it up again. I choose to wait to see how the matter goes. I know Your eyes are on me. You care for me affectionately and watchfully, because You are a Good Father. I choose to be thankful today instead of thought-full. I choose Your peace over these thoughts running through my head. I choose to trust You today, Lord. I know Your plans are good and best! 

Take some time to meditate also on John 14:27 in the Amplified. We do have the choice to stop allowing ourselves to be agitated and disturbed in these times. There’s a work we do that allows God to work on the things we can’t. When we do what He says to do, He does what only He can do. Cast those cares that are bringing negative feelings, runaway thoughts, and the concerns that keep you up at night. He cares for you “watchfully” and “affectionately.” That is something to be thankful for!