Anxious care

(James Smith, "The True Remedy!" 1856)

Another soul-disorder is anxious care. Worry or anxiety is prohibited by the gospel, because it is injurious to us, and reflects badly upon the care and kindness of God. Yet we, like Martha — are anxious and troubled about many things. We lose sight of the fact that God is our Father, and as such, He is engaged to provide for us. We forget that . . .
   we are in our Father's world,
   we are living under our Father's eye,
   we are fed by our Father's hand, and
   our interests lie near our Father's heart!

The true remedy for anxious care is to realize daily, and every hour of every day . . .
   that the Lord cares for us,
   that He knows where we are, and what we are,
   that He has fixed the bounds of our habitation,
   that His feeding the sparrows, is a proof that He will never neglect His children.

Anxiety! As a believer in Jesus, as a child of God — about what should I be anxious?

God is my Father, and He loves me — loves me just as He loves Jesus!

He cares for me — cares for me as much as He cared for the apostle Paul.

He watches over me, as a tender mother watches over her precious infant!

He keeps me — keeps me as the apple of His eye; and lest anything should hurt me, He will keep me night and day. He bids me cast every care upon Him. He exhorts me not to worry about anything — but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, to let my requests be made known unto Him.

This is the true remedy for anxious care:
to live in close and intimate fellowship with God, and cast all my cares upon Him as they come in;
to live realizing the fact, that I am the object of the constant, tender, loving care of God — that my God cares for me, for my best interests, for my everlasting welfare!

Yes, this is the only true remedy!