21 Days To Clarity, Day 7: Cast All Your Stuff On God

For Day 6, Click Here


Thanks to Writer’s Block Syndrome, I’m addressing a reader’s question today. Thank you, Lisa, for jolting me out of my catatonic state and giving me a viable subject for today’s post.

Okay Sandy, maybe you can blog about the kind of day I have had and offer some inspiring words. I had one of those days dominated by some evil force that negatively affected everything I touched. Bad incident at work involving incompetents followed by finding out someone I know has terminal cancer followed by my daughter hurting her knee at dance (not bad), followed by finding out how much money I will have to pay the dance studio for costumes, tuition, seminar fees and competition fees (ten days BEFORE Christmas thankyouverymuch), followed by spilling cold coffee on my kitchen floor and then having a kitchen drawer collapse after putting away a pot holder. Please tell me why there are days like this?

~Lisa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Lisa,

Well, I think you were onto something when you said your day was “dominated by some evil force.” I’m not one to blame every bad hair day on the devil, but the Bible does give credence to the fact that there is an evil force, his name is Satan, and he walks around looking for ways to destroy us:

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

(I Peter 5:8)

So while all those things you described in your day may not have been a direct result of evil, some of it probably was. I’m thinking particularly the collapsing drawer. It simply defies the laws of physics, as a potholder cannot singlehandedly detach a drawer from its brackets. Only a possessed potholder could accomplish that.

Not only is Satan trying to destroy you, but he is the master of distraction. If he can get you to focus on all the irritating things of the day instead of focusing on God’s will for you, then he’s accomplished his goal and rendered you ineffective. Because, basically, whatever you focus on will be the thing you move toward.

To test this theory, drive down the highway at 65 mph and then look at the trash littering the side of the road. Now try to continue driving in your lane, while staying focused on the trash. See what I mean?

And while entire books have been written on bad things happening to good people, I can briefly say, one of the other reasons we have bad days is that people do stupid things. And sometimes the stupid person is me. And sometimes the stupid person is you. I’m not saying you did anything stupid to create the circumstances of your bad day, but sometimes we do and we reap the consequences. Other times we reap the consequences of someone ELSE'S stupidity. We all sin and sin always affects innocent people. That’s one of the reasons it’s so destructive, and basically frowned upon in Scripture.

But here is a really cool thing…look at that scripture in context:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.


Here, God is telling us a few things about our trials:

1. We should cast all our anxiety (everything, even if we caused it) on to Him. God cares more about us than we are able to comprehend. So He certainly cares about the details of our day. It’s totally OK to throw up your arms to God and say, “Please help!” I do it all the time. I did it this evening, as a matter of fact.

2. We have the power to resist our enemy and stand firm in our faith. What does that look like? Well, with me, it goes sort of like this, “I refuse to allow the enemy or my circumstances to dictate how I will react. I know that God lives in me and therefore has given me a spirit of self-control. I do not need to freak out or be discouraged. I can still be loving, joyful and peaceful because God gives me the strength to do this. I will give thanks in all circumstances, because this is God’s will for me.”

You don’t have to say it exactly like this, but I can tell you that if you recite a little bit of Truth, the enemy will flee while you stand firm.

3. We can take comfort in knowing we are not alone…everyone has really, really bad days like the one you’ve described. Maybe not today, but rest assured, we have all been there or will be there at some point. It’s a sure thing.

And one last point: I believe one huge misconception about life, in general, and hearing God’s voice in particular stems from the notion that we have been guaranteed a trial-free life. We may not say those words out loud, but we live like we believe it. We are utterly shocked when things spin out of control. We’re certain something has gone terribly wrong. We must not be hearing God, or we must have stepped out of His will, or something somewhere is off-balance and we must fix it.

That’s pretty much the opposite of what the Bible teaches:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

(John 16:33)
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

(I Peter 4:12-13)

Yes, God promises us trouble and suffering.

Um, Yippeee?????

But He does not want us to attach our joy and peace to our circumstances. The Spirit of God dwelling in us actually empowers us to transcend our circumstances. And then He does a really awesome thing…He actually takes those difficult circumstances and works them for our ultimate good.

God is a God of redemption. He can take the most painful, distressing and discouraging situation turn it around and make something really amazing come out of it.

Like this blog post, for example…your bad day produced this amazing blog post.

Just kidding.

There are so many examples of God doing this in the Bible, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Just trust me when I say, redemption is simply a character trait of God. If there is something destructive in your life—from difficult situations at work, to financial hardships at Christmastime to friends with cancer—you can be certain that God wants to redeem it.

Mainly by

1. Perfecting your character—that is, basically just making you a more loving, patient and faithful person

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:1-3)

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (I Peter 1:5-7)

OR by

2. Showing Himself strong in you. He knows sometimes the trials of your life are simply too much for you to handle. If you could handle them on your own, you wouldn’t need God. And, basically, God wants you to need Him. And then He wants you to tell other people it was God’s power that pulled you through.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (II Corinthians 12:9)

So dear, Lisa, hang in there, my friend. We don’t always know why the bad days come, but we do know how to respond. And in doing so, we clear the way for God to work some pretty amazing things in our lives. I promise.

For Day 8, Click here