GOD CARES!!!

[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:10] Hello, and welcome to the Second Row Conversations podcast. I'm Letitia, also known as Lady P, And I'm so excited to be with you again today. It's been a little minute, but I'm glad to be back with you on today's podcast. [00:00:25] Thank you for everyone who's been joining, who's been listening, who's been sending me messages and talking to me and letting me know how this podcast has been helping you. I truly appreciate it. Thank you again for the love and the support. [00:00:37] It means a lot to me. I thank you for all of my friends and my family for just pushing me and continuing to. Telling me. Continuing to tell me how I need to keep going and. And not to stop. So thank you, thank you, thank you. It means a lot. [00:00:52] Before we get started, I know y' all see the little spot. I tried to be cute today. Y' all got a little makeup on me, so take it for love. I just. That's the elephant in the room. I know y' all see the makeup, so please, again, take it for love. Don't judge me. Things happen. That's what it is. If you've known the day that I've had, you would understand. [00:01:12] You understand it, so it happens. So you understand Second row conversations. It is what it is. Life happens. But it's all good, and I thank you. [00:01:21] All right, so I wanted to talk today to you about God caring for us. God cares. [00:01:31] So some years back, I had to stand in for a church sister who had to speak, who was supposed to speak at an event, and she couldn't do it. And so they asked me to speak on her behalf. [00:01:46] And so I spoke about God caring for us. And I was telling one of my co workers about it and. And how it resonated with me. And from that day forward, every now and then, we would just look at each other or send each other a message about. [00:02:00] And the subject or the. The text would just say, God cares. [00:02:04] And today she sent me that message and it hit me again, God cares. And I said, you know what? That's what we going to talk about today. I had something else in mind, but I said, nah, we gonna talk about that. So a part of my day was putting this together and just kind of talk, thinking about it and. And saying I wanted to share this message with you and remind you that God cares about us. And with the climate that we're in and things going on, we need to be reminded that God does care about us. And I wanted to talk to you, share that love. Share that inspiration, hopefully it, it inspires you. Hopefully it helps you, encourage you, encourages you, like it encourages me. So we're going to talk about that on Today. Sometimes life's challenges can make us feel overlooked or forgotten. But the truth of scripture reassures us that God sees us, knows us, and deeply cares for every detail of our lives. [00:03:04] The scripture, 1st Peter 5 and 7 reminds us to cast all of your anxiety or cast your cares or on him because he cares for you. [00:03:16] That was a song that, that we sung when I was at the College of Charleston. I was on the gospel choir and that was one of my favorite songs that we used to sing. Cast your care. Cast your cares on Jesus because He cares for you. [00:03:28] So that's again, first Peter 5 and 7. Cast all of your cares or cast your anxiety on him because he cares for you. The first point I want us to talk about or to about. I hope you have your notebook and your pen, you have your little coffee or your tea because we're gonna talk about some points and I'm gonna give you some scripture. [00:03:49] The first point is God cares about our daily needs. [00:03:53] So there I know we, we always focus on God caring about big things, right? He cares about like when we have major health concerns or major decisions to make or. But I want us to think about the small things that God cares about as well. He cares about even the small details of our lives. Matthew 6:26 tells us, look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns. And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? [00:04:29] So the birds don't have to worry about what they're going to eat. [00:04:33] They are just flying around. They may they know that they're they going to be taken care of. And so aren't we any more? Aren't we better than them? So our Heavenly Father made sure that they are good. So why wouldn't he take care of us? So he provides food for the sparrows. How much more will he provide for his children? [00:04:52] So even though we think that he. He thinks about the big things, he thinks about the small details of our lives as well. [00:05:00] When we wake up in the morning, sometimes there things as small as what should we wear, where should we go, what should we eat, which way should we go to work? Those small details are just as important as God. I have this major decision to make in our lives. He cares about every detail of our life. One thing that I have learned and I learned this, we had a speaker, a preacher come to our church years ago and he made this statement and it has struck, stuck with me ever since then that God is a strategic. He's a. Is an extraordinary strategist. He is an extraordinary strategist. He strategize everything in our life. He pays attention to every detail in our lives. And so he cares about every detail, everything about us. [00:05:48] So as small as which way we should go. And there are times, I know I've been driving and I typically go one way and there's something in me that says, nah, I go this way. [00:05:58] We don't know why, but there's a reason and that's because God knows the details. There may be an accident on the way that I usually go in the morning. There may be a delay. I don't know. The other morning I was supposed to. I'm trying to go to work. I had a flat tire. [00:06:14] That could be a detail that God has. There's something that God has caused and it may have aggravated my nerves so bad. But there may be a reason. [00:06:24] There may be a reason. I got a stain on my shirt now I have to change my clothes. That's delaying me from getting where I need to be. But God is paying attention to. He is very concerned about everything that has happened in our lives. He's concerned about every detail in our lives and that's something that we have to remember. [00:06:43] Groceries. How are we going to pay for our groceries? He's concerned about that. So we should pray to him all the time about our lives. [00:06:54] Excuse me. [00:06:56] Things. Paying a bill. Go to him about those things. [00:07:00] Strength for date. Listen, this past weekend, y', all, I had to work at the store. If you know, you know, we own a business. [00:07:09] My husband had to go out of town. [00:07:11] And so with our staff, I needed to work. And so I work. [00:07:16] I have a full time job. And so I worked there all day. Friday I left there. I went to work at the store until 10pm Saturday I worked from 10am until 10pm at the store. And I just remember waking up Saturday morning. I'm like, lord, you got to give me strength because I am tired. [00:07:34] He gave me the strength I needed. And then Sunday we had two services. [00:07:39] I was wore out by Sunday evening. And then Monday morning I knew I had to go to work because. Because I have to work. And so those are things. Those are things you pray and ask God, I need your help. [00:07:49] We think those are very small details and that God doesn't care. He cares about those details in our lives and he wants us to come to him. He cares about us. And we think he doesn't. He does. He wants us to, to come to him. He doesn't want us to feel like we can't come to him, that we can only come to him about the big deal details in our lives. That's important. [00:08:13] And so we have to remember those things. All right? [00:08:17] God cares about our pain. [00:08:20] Psalm 34 and 18 says, the Lord is close to those broke, to the brokenhearted, and save those who are crushed in spirit. Again at Psalm 34 and 18, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and save those who are crushed. And in spirit, people that are grieving, that are struggling with anxiety and depression, those who are feeling unseen. [00:08:49] God is concerned about, about us. [00:08:52] Okay? [00:08:54] And I say us because, yes, we are still grieving. My mother in law passed in July and that is still, we're still going through the grieving process. It is still tough, right? So he is concerned about our, he cares about our pain. He, he doesn't want us. He understands that we are indeed in pain. And he knows that as physical beings that it does hurt, death hurts. People are anxious. The Bible does say be anxious for nothing. But he also knows that we are indeed human beings and we're going to be anxious about things. Life, life happens. Life is lifing. And, and I promise you, the way things have been going on in the world these last few weeks, it has been overwhelming. It's been overwhelming. You don't know what to say. You don't want to say the wrong thing. You don't want to post the wrong thing. You can't like the wrong thing. There are things that are happening and you know, you have an opinion and you want to say something, but you can't say the wrong thing. You can't like the wrong thing. [00:09:53] It's a lot. And so you're anxious. [00:09:56] Um, some people are anxious. They, they are concerned. And so God understands that and he understands our pain and he cares about us. He sees our tears, every tear that, that falls from our eyes. He understands and he cares for us and he cares us, cares for us through those pains. [00:10:14] An example out of the Bible, Job. [00:10:17] We know the story about Job. Joel lost everything. [00:10:21] His children, his, his, his cattle, his animals. He was a rich man. He lost everything. [00:10:29] And he was going through. Job was going through to the point that his friends came to check on him. They didn't even know what to say. They just kind of sat there. [00:10:38] They didn't know what to say to him. [00:10:41] And though he lost everything, God was present with him. And in the end, he. He did. He was restored. But God, he lost everything. But God cared for him, even through that, right? [00:10:55] Joseph. Joseph went through his. His brothers turned their back on him. He went through it. He was in the pit. He. He went through a lot. [00:11:04] But one thing, the story of Joseph. If you read the story, Joseph and everywhere he went, everything he went through, when you go through, Read, read the story of Joseph, it always says, and God was with him. [00:11:19] He was in the pit, it says, and God was with him. [00:11:23] Okay? Potiphar's wife lied on him and tried to say. He's tried. He wanted to sleep with her. And God was with him. Okay, so God cared about what Joseph was going through, right? So God cares about us when we're going through our pain and when we're going through our. Our dying time. When we feel like nobody cares about us, God cares about us. [00:11:43] When we feel like we have no one to talk to and no one understands, God does. He doesn't leave us or forsake us. So we have to remember that even though we are going through pain and we are suffering, because there are times when we do suffer, there's. There are times where we are brokenhearted, right? God does care about us. [00:12:02] So we have to. In those tough times, in those really hard times, we have to remember that. God does. He. He does care about our pain. [00:12:15] And I want to encourage you to cry out to God. Cry out to him when you are struggling. Cry out to him and say, God, like, I am having a hard time right now. [00:12:26] I am feeling anxious. I am stressed right now. I am feeling overwhelmed. You're not overwhelmed, but you're feeling overwhelmed, right? You're not. [00:12:39] You're feeling depressed. You are not those things, but you are going through those feelings. And so he is the one that you should call out to, cry out to. He wants you to know that you can indeed come to him when you are going through. He wants you to know that you can cast your. Your pain on him again, going back to that first scripture, cast your care. Come before him. Cast them. Lay them at his feet because he cares for you. You don't have to go through them by yourself. [00:13:11] Lay them before him because he does indeed care for you. [00:13:17] He and the. In the reason he wants you to lay them before him, he welcomes it because he wants to give you his comfort. He wants to give you his comfort. Okay? So again, he cares about our daily needs, right? He cares about our daily needs. The. The little things, what we. What we need daily he cares about those things. He cares about our day, our pain, and he also cares about our future. Jeremiah 29:11 we know that scripture, right? For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. And we know that the future does seem uncertain. Lord knows every time you turn on the news, every time you pull up social media, every time you go to I don't know what you may go to Facebook x TikTok. It's wherever you go, wherever you get your news from, every time you look at it, there is something going on, right? You just don't know what the future is going to be and it's uncertain. You, you just don't know. You think you have a plan, you just don't know which way you go. Or you may not even have a plan. You may think, especially for like you, you may have a plan for your career. Maybe in a place where you not sure about your career, you may have change in your career choice. Or you may for your family, you may have some plan, plans for your family and some future plans for you. A goal, right? You should have a goal goal for yourself, go for your family, a goal for your health, a goal for your family's health, a goal for your children. You may have a but you have a goal for your future, for your goal for your children's future. And it feels uncertain because you may have a goal. And then things looking a little, a little crazy right now, you just don't know what is going to. What's going to happen. God cares about our future. [00:15:13] You have to remember that even though we don't know how it's going to work it out, God already knows what the plan is. He knows how it's going to work out. [00:15:21] He knows the end from the beginning. He knows even though, like I said earlier, he's an extraordinary strategist. He knows the pieces to the puzzle. [00:15:32] He knows how all things are going to work out. [00:15:35] Romans 8:28 said, all things work together for the good of them. [00:15:39] And so we have to remember that the good, the bad, the ugly, all of those things are going to work together. And so the future, even though we may not know, we may not know, he does, right? [00:15:51] So we got a plan. [00:15:55] The plan may not look like it's going to work out. We got to trust him. Even if we can't trace him, trace his hand, we got to trust his heart. God, I don't know which way it's Going, I thought I knew which way he was gonna go. But I trust you and God, I know you care about my future because you got a plan for me. [00:16:14] And you knew me before I knew myself. You knew me before my mama knew my daddy. And they got together and made me right? So you knew me. You had a plan for me. And so, God, I trust you because I know you care about my future. And so those are the things that we have to remember. [00:16:32] I talked about Joseph earlier. From the prince of the prison to the palace, God was orchestrating a bigger plan. [00:16:40] He showed Joseph the dreams. [00:16:43] He showed Joseph the dreams. Joseph wasn't sure, but he was like, hey, this is what the Lord is showing. This is what God's showing me. [00:16:51] The brothers was mad, but he was like, God showing me these dreams. They ain't understand it. Joseph ain't understand it, but he knew there was a plan. [00:17:00] And sometimes with the plan, God has to, like, it's not a straight line, right? It's like a zigzag, round and round, up and down. [00:17:09] But then you're going to get there. [00:17:12] And so we have to trust God that you going to get me there. I don't know how I'm going to get there, but you're going to get me there. [00:17:19] Even if the way that I think I'm going to get there is not the way you got me there. [00:17:24] The children of Israel, they were trying to get to the Promised Land. And it took them how many years? 40 years, I think, to get there. And they went and I forgot. I don't. I can't remember how long it was supposed to take them? Not long, but it took them 40 years. [00:17:41] And in that path, during that time, there were lessons that they had to learn that God knew that if they took a straight path there, they weren't going to learn those lessons. Lord, I hear you. They weren't going to learn those lessons. [00:17:53] And so he had to take them around. [00:17:58] Because as they were taking them around, they learned the lessons. [00:18:03] As he took them around, there were people that weren't going to make it to the Promised Land. God knew that they didn't need to go. [00:18:11] And so, yeah, they couldn't get there. [00:18:15] And so there are some things that God is going to have to prune off of you before you get to your Promised Land. [00:18:25] So don't get discouraged as you get to your future self, as God is getting you to your future, know he cares for you. And he cares for you so much that even though it may take a little longer and it may be some bumps and bruises as you're getting there. [00:18:48] He cares for you, and so that's why he's doing it the way he's doing it. Okay? So trust me. I know. [00:18:57] I know. [00:18:59] It doesn't feel good. [00:19:02] It hurts, it's ugly, it's uncomfortable. [00:19:07] But it's for your good, right? It doesn't feel good, but it's for your good. And so God cares for your future. [00:19:15] So remember that. [00:19:17] Even remember you can't see how things will work out. God is already ahead of us, arranging things for our good. [00:19:24] Work it out. God is working it out, so remember that. [00:19:28] Okay? So how do we respond to God's care? How do we do that? [00:19:33] How do. How do we live knowing God's care? Knowing God cares for us. I'm sorry. How do we live knowing God cares for us? We trust them daily, every day. [00:19:44] Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not into your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. Okay? Lean not into your. Lean not onto your own understanding. [00:20:02] Okay? Don't lean into to your own understanding. Trust him. [00:20:07] He'll direct your path. All right, so daily, every day. Trust him daily. Don't trust. Don't be like, okay, today's Monday, so, Lord, I trust you today. Okay? Today, Tuesday, I'm good today, Lord, I got it. And then today's Wednesday. Okay? No, trust him every day, all day. Trust him every day, all day. Trust him with your daily life. [00:20:28] Trust him with your daily life. Trust him with your relationships. Trust him with your friendship. [00:20:34] Trust him with your children. Trust him with your husband, a wife. Trust him all the time. [00:20:41] Trust him when you wake up. Trust him when you go to sleep. [00:20:44] Trust him with your finances. [00:20:48] Trust him with your career choice. [00:20:53] Trust them daily. [00:20:56] Number two. Cast worries unto him in prayer. Lord, I'm scared and I don't know what to do, right? So with everything that's been going on, it has really been. Some days I'm like, lord, I don't know what the next thing that's going to happen. [00:21:15] Like, I see, I hear, I feel it, but I don't know, I'm worried. So I'm casting this on you. I can't figure this out, God, but I'm giving it to you. We're casting it on you. Lord, I hear. [00:21:32] I see what folks are saying. I hear what they're thinking about groups, demographics of people. I see it. I hear what they think about people that look like me. Okay, I'm just gonna be honest with you. I hear what they think about African American women. Why? [00:21:53] I don't understand it. I'm just out here trying to do the best I can. I'm just out here trying to live the life for you, Lord. I'm trying to represent you. Why? [00:22:01] I'm not trying to threaten anybody. I'm just trying to live a life for you, Lord. Why? [00:22:06] And so that can become overwhelming. But, Lord, I. I trust you. So I'm casting this on you because I know you care for me. [00:22:12] I know you care for me. And you see, right? So I'm casting my worries onto you. And that's how we live. Knowing God cares for us. We cast our cares on him. We cast our worries. We cast them at his feet. We throw them. We cast them. We lay them at his feet. In prayer. [00:22:36] In prayer. And how do we pray? We just talk to Him. [00:22:39] We just talk to Him. [00:22:41] And we rest. [00:22:44] We rest knowing we are loved, held. [00:22:49] Knowing we are heard. [00:22:53] Knowing that he hears us, knowing that he loves us, knowing that he does indeed care for us. [00:23:02] That he understands that there's nothing that we go through that he didn't go through. [00:23:12] Right. That his son didn't experience when he was here on earth that Jesus didn't experience when he was here on Earth. And so we have to remember that. So we rest, knowing. So. So we trust him daily. [00:23:26] We cast our worries on him in prayer. And then we rest, knowing that he. We are loved and we are held. [00:23:37] That's how we live, knowing God cares for us. So the challenge is, instead of carrying stress alone, we practice turning it over to God each day this week. That's your challenge. So instead of carrying our stress by ourselves. Right. And I'm gonna do this. I'm challenging myself with this. [00:23:54] We're going to practice turning it over to God each day this week. Okay. So when I'm. I'm feeling the stress. Okay, God. [00:24:01] Nope. [00:24:02] I'm casting it. I'm casting it at your feet. I'm turning it over to you. I feel it when I feel it coming. [00:24:10] I'm turning it over to you. Lord, I trust you. [00:24:16] I can't do this by myself. I'm turning it over to you. [00:24:20] I can't figure this out by myself. [00:24:22] I'm turning it over to you. [00:24:25] Nope. [00:24:27] I've been feeling. Feeling. Not I am, but I've been feeling overwhelmed. [00:24:33] My sister friend at work has told me I need to take better care of myself. [00:24:39] My office. [00:24:41] I have bought things to decorate my office. And I have yet to pull it up because I have been. I've been feeling overwhelmed, and so I. And I've been stressed about it because I have just been stressed. And so I'm turning it over to you, and I'm just going to do one. One item at a time, and I'm going to decorate my office. [00:25:01] But I'm not going to carry the stress alone. The stress that I am feeling about this thing, state of the world, the state of my. [00:25:09] My life sometimes. I'm not going to carry this alone. I feel stressed sometimes because I feel like I am the fixer and I am the pusher, and I'm the helper. [00:25:23] I got a text the other day like, hey, you helping everybody else and you taking care of everybody else. I need you to take care of yourself. [00:25:29] I need you to take care of yourself. And if you are one of those people, I need you to take care of yourself as well. So the challenge this week, instead of carrying the stress alone, we're going to turn it over to God each day this week. All right? That's the challenge this week. Okay, so let's recap. [00:25:47] We good? [00:25:49] Recap. [00:25:50] God cares about your needs, your daily needs, all of your daily needs, your pain and your future. And I want to go back to something, too. I remember telling somebody, listen, I know we may go to God when we're sick with the flu, right? We got the flu, pneumonia, Covid those days. But what about when you just have a headache or the sniffles? He cares about those things, too. [00:26:15] You can go to God, be like, lord, my head is hurting. [00:26:18] I can you hit? Like, can you help me? [00:26:23] Can you help me with. He cares about those things, too. Like, don't feel like it only is only the big things. He cares about the small things, right? Okay. So he cares about your daily needs. He cares about your pain and your future. [00:26:36] He cares about those things. [00:26:38] Those are the main points. [00:26:40] Remember, he wants us to come to him, cast our cares, because he cares for you. [00:26:49] And so our prayer should be remembering that he hears us. He knows all about us. [00:27:01] And so I want you to understand, I want you to pray and ask the Lord to help you, help you get through this week. If you feel unseen, if you feel unheard, if you feel unloved, know that God hears you. [00:27:18] He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. He is near. [00:27:24] He's a comforter. [00:27:26] He's a keeper. [00:27:28] He is a provider. [00:27:32] He is a mind regulator. [00:27:37] He's everything that we need, big and small. [00:27:42] There is nothing. I know that we say this all the time. There's nothing too big for God, but I promise you, there's nothing too small for him either. [00:27:50] So please know that there's nothing too small that you can't go to God with either. [00:27:57] Even if you feel like, you know what, I'm unworthy. God doesn't care. He doesn't hear I'm too small. [00:28:03] This is too small. He has bigger, bigger fish to fry. [00:28:09] He hears you. He knows. [00:28:15] So just remember that. That God hears you. He loves you. He cares for you. He is going to provide. [00:28:21] You need his provision. It's done. Ask him. You need his care. [00:28:27] He's there. [00:28:29] Whatever you need him to be, big or small, he's there for you. Okay? So remember, if you don't remember anything else, God cares. [00:28:37] God cares. So I'm going to be posting some of the notes that I talked about today throughout the week, just as a reminder, some of the scripture, just some other things that may come up throughout the week that I think about. I'm going to repost the challenge that I talked about also. And I just want you to know that God cares. He cares about your daily needs, he cares about your pain, and he cares about your future. [00:29:06] Make sure to share this post with your family and your friends. Anyone that you think that needs to hear this, please share. We are on all podcast platforms. We're on YouTube. And just make sure that you and on any way you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, we are on Facebook, Instagram, wherever you get your podcast, make sure you are listening to it. It won't be this long again. I'll be back. I'll be back more often. [00:29:35] I promise. I'll be back. And I thank you again for sharing. So remember, no matter where you are, no matter where God has you, remember to stay there. [00:29:45] Oh, y', all, I forgot. Flourish in it. [00:29:50] What am I supposed to say? I forgot. [00:29:55] Flourish in it. Accept it. Flourish in it. Lord, y', all, I forgot. It's been that long, but I know you're supposed to flourish in it. And remember, God cares. Oh, my goodness. We gotta do better. I gotta do better. Accept it, embrace it, and flourish in it. There it is. I got it. So thank you again. I will see you next time. And remember, God cares. Take care.