Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. (Ps. 55:22)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 55:19-23
It was about mile number nine that my strength began to wane. To qualify as a graduate of the Army Air Assault School in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, soldiers must complete a twelve-mile road march in three hours. I had trained for months, and now it was time to perform. By now, my blisters had blisters, and my back radiated sharp pain from the thirty-five-pound rucksack. My body and gear were soaked with sweat, and my energy was flagging.
I had been digging deep to find the strength to press on, but I was slowing down and in danger of not hitting my time or faltering into a ditch, as twenty-two other soldiers did that night. It is an ominous sound to hear a distant voice in the dark yell, “Medic!” because someone passed out.
As you can imagine, I prayed intensely for help. King David insisted that when life becomes difficult, it’s best to “cast your cares on the Lord.” They are too heavy for us to carry alone. I took each physical concern and gave them to God. He sustained me, and I passed.
You may feel that you are carrying a load weighted with the rocks of financial pressure, relational strife, or medical concerns. Pause, pull out those rocks, and hand them over to God through prayer. The lightened load will sustain you through the battle.
Throw, chuck, or thrust your worries to God; carry them no more.
Jim Miller is a chaplain in the Army National Guard. He and his wife, Renee, live in Washington, DC, and enjoy spending time traveling with their two children.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
