Recently, I was listening to a comedian who said in one of his sets, that a few years ago, ”Elmo” (a beloved character in children’s television) had asked a simple question on a social media platform.  The question was: “How are you all doing?”  Poor “Elmo” was unprepared for the onslaught of responses from across the country, responses that ran the gamut of every human emotion: rage, disgust, horror, confusion, sadness, disillusionment, revenge, you name it, it was there.  Elmo received 180 million responses. 

The writer of the first letter of Peter says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). It goes without saying, that many of us are going through a very anxious time.  This is a season filled with stress, fear, uncertainty and maybe even panic.  There are many unknowns surrounding our lives.  For instance, political unknowns, social unknowns, global level unknowns, and on and on.  We have no control over these unknowns.

However, we do have control over one thing, our response(s) to the unknowns.  Peter tells the early church and now us to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”  The psalmist further reiterates, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

As we begin this new week, I would like to ask you, “How are you doing?” Take a moment and tell Jesus how you really feel inside.  He is prepared to handle anything you might say or feel.  He is your refuge and your fortress, and his grace is sufficient for you, and for the millions who long for inner peace in this season.  He invites us to shelter in him and assures us that we will find rest in him even in this season of angst.  Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Abraham, Noah, Hannah, Rahab and many more stalwarts of the faith trusted him, and we can and should do the same because Jesus does really care for us. He even gave up his life to prove it.