“How Do You Know God Cares?”

Scripture: "the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous." -Psalms 146:8, NIV

In 2009, Sandra Bullock played in a great movie depicting the biography of Michael Oher, a rookie offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, entitled "The Blindside". Within this movie, Michael dealt with some hardships within his home life. His mother was on drugs, his father died, and the neighborhood he was around was drug infested and loaded with brothers who meant him no good. On the other hand, Sandra Bullock's character, Mrs. Leigh Ann Tuhoy, and her family, provided Oher with somewhere to stay, a truck, a bedroom, a laptop, and most importantly, a set of people who cared. For his gratitude towards his new family, Michael protected his mother anytime they went somewhere and saved his little brother from being injured when they were in a car accident. Within the spiritual realm, it's good to know that your Father cares. It's good to know that your brothers and sisters in Christ care when you are going through things and will help you the best way they can. Just in case you are not certain of the care God has for you, let today's text provide you clarity on some of the ways He cares for you.

Today's main scripture is found in the book of Psalms. Psalms is the second and longest book within the Poetry Books of the Old Testament. In this 146th chapter, the writer deals with two major topics: why you should not trust men (verses 1 - 4) and why you should trust God (verses 5 - 10). Our main scripture falls into the category why you should trust God. As we learn to trust Him, He also provides us rationale to how we know He cares.

The writer first tells us that "the LORD gives sight to the blind". If truth were told and we thought about this long and hard, God has given us all sight to see. Many of us have been blind in the relationship decisions we have made in life. Many of us have been blind in the financial decisions we have made in life. Many of us have been blind in the spiritual decisions we have made in life. Because God cares for you, and for me, aren't you glad to know that He will open up blinded eyes and allow you to see? Aren't you glad to be a part of the number who could sing the great hymn, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I am found, was blind, but now I see"! Wherever you are this morning, you ought to give God a praise for opening up your blinded eyes!

Secondly, the text reveals to us that He cares because "the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down". Life, ladies and gentlemen, has a way of dealing us all body shots in one form or another. If you ever watch boxing, you know that a body shot will make you go down to the canvas or bow down. We have experienced the body shot of marital issues. We have experienced the body shot of issues with our children. We have experienced the body shot of financial issues. We have experienced the body shot of church hurt. We have experienced many body shots, but the blessing is there is a God who will lift you up when you are bowed down. When you think about the bowed down position, that's the optimal position for prayer. He shares with us in His Word that "if we humbled ourselves before the Lord, He would exalt you". When life places you in the bowed down position, just pray to the Father in that humble position and watch God work it out for you!

Lastly, the writer discloses to us that God cares because "the LORD loves the righteous". David tells us within this same book of Psalms that "he was once, but now he is old and he never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread". Ladies and gentlemen, living righteous is hard, but if you continue to do so, God will NEVER leave you nor forsake you and He will never have you to be forsaken or having to beg for something to eat. When you live righteous, you are going to be an outcast, but that's okay as well, because you live in this world, but you are not of this world. As the enemy may try and throw darts at you, know that "no weapon formed against you shall prosper"! Just keep moving and live your life unto God righteously because He loves you!

In closing, once Oher understood that the Tuhoys cared for him, he began to display his care for them. God is a man who just loves His children. He wanted you to know that He cares for you through opening up your blinded eyes, lifting you up when you are bowed down, and loves His righteous people. Now that you know some of the ways God cares for you, aren't you going to care for Him that much more? I know I am!