Daily Devotional #1,619

One of the things that I remember and loved doing with my Dad was to stay up late and listen to him tell me  stories about his life. There were all kinds of things that he experienced and was able to do and he had a story  about each one of them. One of the things that Dad would talk to me about was his time as a combat  infantryman in Italy in WWII. There were stories about people and events and things that he had experienced  as a soldier. One night, as we were talking, he looked at me and said “You would never guess what one thing  was that I worried about when we were out in harm’s way.” I could think of a whole bunch of things that I  would be pretty frightened about but Dad really surprised me. He said there were times when he had to be  moving alone or with a small group that was away from any help. And he said that he always worried that on  one of those occasions he might be out there…and his appendix would burst! I got it that help might be far  away, but I remember thinking that there would have been a whole lot of other things that I would have been  frightened about much less worried about…but a burst appendix was not one of those. We actually both  laughed at that and he said that he never knew what prompted that feeling. Dad died 40 years after WWII with  a whole and still healthy appendix! All of us have things that are out there that scare us or that we carry around  and worry about. Some are big and some are comparatively minor. But you know what? God doesn’t care!  Whatever it is that brings fear or worry to your heart and soul, God tells us in his Bible to give them to him. He  will take them. And the reason he does this is because he cares about you. He cares about whatever it is that  troubles you. So, no matter how large or how small…how major or how seemingly trivial to the rest of  us…God takes each worry seriously. And he promises us that when you have those fears, you can and need to  trust in him. So, whatever it is today that you might even be embarrassed to confess to anyone else…you tell it  to God. Because when you do, you open the door to his care and protection and assurance that he is on your  side and will be working the best for you today. Here’s our Bible verse for today…  
  
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.  
(1Peter 5:7 NLT)  
Remember I’m praying for you!  
With love, PJ