1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you”
God cares! He cares because He loves us. The children sing, “Jesus loves me this I know…” Sometimes, as adults, we don’t know that, or else, we’ve forgotten that. The innocent world of a child is filled with playing, snacks and naps. It’s when those children grow up that they are exposed to the harshness of job layoffs, cancer, mounting debt, storms in the night. These realities put fear in our hearts and doubt in our minds. We know God is there but He’s hard to see in the darkness of a storm.
Peter reminds us. He not only tells us that God cares but that we should cast all of our anxiety upon Him. The word “casting” means to throw off. It is the idea of someone burdened down with a heavy load. He’s about to fall because of the weight he is carrying. Finally, he throws off the weight. He can stand again. He can continue on his journey. This is what the apostle tells us to do. Throw off those heavy weights.
Peter gives us more. Counselors will tell us not to deal with too many things at once. They will instruct on how to not think about some problems. Peter’s words are different. We are giving our anxious moments to God. It’s more than just casting them off, it is transferring them to God. God who is in charge of all things. God who can do things when no one else can. God who is greater than all. Give your problems to God. He can do things. Your mother can’t. The government won’t. Churches will let you down. Your friends have their own problems. Give them to God. He can handle it.
How do you give them to God? Prayer. “Take it to the Lord in prayer,” is a hymn that illustrates this very idea. Pray to God about what burdens you. God can open doors. God can make opportunities. Giving it to God is the best thing we can do.
Peter further adds, the reason to do this is because He cares. God cares. How refreshing is that! It seems that nobody cares. God does. God doesn’t want His children burdened. God doesn’t want you to journey through life with a heart filled with worry. God knows that fear, worry and doubt choke out His word. Those things stunt our spiritual growth. They keep us from becoming what God wants.
The solution is not, “don’t let things get to you.” No. Instead, give all your anxiety to God. All of it. The big stuff. The little things. The personal things. The family things. The things beyond our control, such as weather. The things that affect us physically, such as health and jobs. The spiritual things such as faith, temptation and trials.
Jesus told the disciples, “…at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Lk 18:1). Losing heart is to lose the battle. It is to become discouraged and overwhelmed. Sometimes a person just feels like quitting—it may be the church, it may be a job, it may be a marriage, it may be life. Tired. Worn out. Losing ground. Things not getting any better. Do these sound familiar to you. We’ve been there. We’ve tried to do it on our own. We’ve tried to not burden God with our problems. We’ve tried to find solutions. But after a while, we realize things are not getting any better. We’re in over our heads. The storms do not seem to stop. It is then that we realize that we should have listened to Peter. He was right. Take it to the Lord in prayer is more than a hymn, it’s what works.
Take a moment today and do some casting. Box up those thoughts, fears, worries and troubles and ship them to God. Don’t put a return label on them. You don’t want them back. You are not showing them to God, you are giving them to God. Your problems take on new ownership. They are now His. He will deal with them as He wills.
You ought to feel better when you do this. Sleep should be more sound. Your color ought to come back to your face. Now, quit worrying about how God is going to work through those things. You gave it to Him. Don’t be an “Indian giver” and expect God to turn them back to you.
This is hard to do. We fight doing this. We feel like a failure in doing this. We think that we should have been able to deal with these things. The biggest burdens are the spiritual ones. Those are complex and layered with issues. God is greater than the problem. Give it to Him. In Texas, it’s dry and wild fires burn out of control. In the Midwest, it’s stormy with tornadoes. Different problems. Different needs. Same God. He needs us to journey on in faith. It begins by being able to transfer things to Him.
Roger Shouse
