Daily Hope with Rick Warren 19 July 2024, Friday Devotional Message
God Is a Caring Father
By Rick Warren
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
At one time or another, you’ve probably been in a situation where you’ve asked, “Doesn’t God care?” The disciples asked this very question in Mark 4.
They were out in a boat on the lake when the winds and the waves came up. The water started sloshing over the boat and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping. The disciples woke him up and asked the most important question you can ever ask, “Don’t you care that we’re drowning?” (Mark 4:38 CEB).
What about you? Does God care about your house payment, your health, whether you are a success or failure, your children’s education, whether you ever get married or not, about the argument you had with your boyfriend, or about how you feel this morning? God says, “You bet I care! I am a caring Father.”
Matthew 6:31-32 says, “So do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ . . . your heavenly Father knows that you need [these things]” (NIV).
The next verse goes on to say, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 NIV).
Scripture says that God is interested in every little detail of your life. That’s so incredible I don’t think it even sinks in. God is a caring God. He is concerned about every little detail in your life.
A while back, a man came into my office and said, “I’m a Christian but I don’t feel like I’m going anywhere in my Christian life. I’m kind of stuck in neutral.” I said, “What do you think the problem is?” He said, “I think my problem is I just don’t love God enough.”
I said, “That’s not your problem. Your problem is not that you don’t love God enough. Your problem is that you don’t understand how much he loves you.”
Love is always a response to love. The Bible says, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV). When you say, “I don’t love God,” it’s because you don’t understand just how much he really loves you. He cares about every detail of your life. He is a compassionate, caring Father.
Talk It Over
- In what part of your life do you feel like you’re drowning right now? How does it change your feelings about your circumstances to know that God is concerned about every detail of your life?
- How would your life look different if you focused on God’s kingdom and his righteousness and then trusted him more with the other details of your life?
- The Bible says, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV). What does that truth mean to you?
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