God CARES for us?

I was having a conversation with a friend this morning when he said to me, and I mentioned something to him about how God cares for us especially during the times of our lives when things are the most difficult. His reply:

“You know, I’ve always thought of God as someone who guides me, or directs me, or wants to control me. I’ve thought a lot about God’s will, and wondered what that might be, and usually imagining that it would be something I wouldn’t really want on my own. I’ve though how he must expect a lot about me, and how much I probably disappoint him, and, to tell you the truth, I don’t think I would want to meet him face-to-face. I guess, when all is said and done, I think that God would simply judge me and that I wouldn’t come out very good in the process. . . .

“But I don’t think I’ve ever thought about God in the sense of Him caring for me. That puts a whole different slant on things. Caring sounds gentler, and more friendly. I can think of people in my life in the past or even now who have cared for me. I can think of how wonderful  the nurses were to me when I was in the hospital last year, and how much they really cared about me and about what they were doing. I can also remember teachers who I realize really cared about their students, even if we didn’t always recognize it or appreciate it at the time. . . .

“But the idea of God caring for me. Wow! That’s an awful big thing to wrap my head around. . . .”

I reminded him of what Saint Peter had to say in one of his letters: Cast your cares upon the Lord because he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7) And I suggested that he take a voyage through the book of Psalms and see all the references to the ways that God actually cares for us throughout our lives.

Sometimes, you know, when you are given an insight by the Spirit (and I think that was indeed what was happening to my friend), you can turn again to the pages of Scripture, to things that you have read over and over again, and suddenly begin to see things that you have never seen before. The Scriptures can be read as a dialogue between God and his children (see the Document of Vatican II called “Dei Verbum”) and that dialogue is living and active and is not merely some sort of historical record.

I hope my friend takes me up on my encouragement, and does look through the psalms to find examples of God’s caring for us. In fact, perhaps you would like to do that for yourself. Perhaps, in fact, I might do that with you in the days to come . . .

God bless you.