Casting Your Cares

Indiucky I can remember going through some very tough times on a job that I held. The pressures were so immense and the strength to weather the storm was quickly being consumed. I realized that I couldn't go it alone.

I also thought that I couldn't be the only person out in there feeling this way. So I started searching for answers. So I found some words with bible references that help give me strength and put life back on track. I decided to teach this lesson at my church. In my closing I asked if this lesson was helpful and there were at least 50 head nods. I was astonished at the number of people who were out there just like me trying to go it alone.

So today I get an email from a friend who was just about at the end of it all. I blew the dust off of this lesson and sent it back as a reply. The lesson was so well received by my friend that I just had to put this on the site for my sons, my future generations and you if you are interested.

1 Pet 5:7

 NKJV 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

 NIV 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

The text for this lesson is 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 7 "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." The New International version translation reads 7"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Anxiety is a strange thing it sneaks up on you. It is like someone came behind you and pulled a blanket over your head. Sometimes in the strangest of circumstances it creeps up on us and gets us. So I would like to take a moment or two to have a word with you on this whole issue of anxiety. Noticing first of all 1) The Anxiety that we face, 2) the action that we take, 3) and finally the assurance of joy.

The Anxiety That We Face

The anxiety of 1 Peter is clear and unmistakable. The Christians were living their lives with fear and persecution. At any time they could find their lives in jeopardy. Their families were in danger of being taken away from them. The anxiety was not theoretical but intensely practical. And when you think about it, the things the produce anxieties in the human heart are the same regardless of the century in which you live. It may be propelled by different circumstances.

Peter described the essence of it in the word that he used which means to divide or distract. That distraction of mind that creates insecurity that creates instability, which creates uncertainty, which further serves to fuel our fears. It engenders in us that experience that is known by all human beings; for whatever reason being caught by this notion of almost paralyzing anxiety.

The Action That We Take

It becomes imperative for us to discover how in the world are we suppose to respond to this experience. What is the action that we are then to take? Now you will notice, in the verse, Peter does not say that we are to deny anxiety, nor does he say that we are to ignore it, nor does he say we are to or run from it.

We face the challenge that David sensed in the Psalm 11 where he responds "why do you say to me flee like a bird to the mountain". David recognized that if he goes to the mountain then he goes to the mountain. And if he goes anxious then he goes anxious. And he is just as anxious on the mountain as he was in the palace.

So we are not called upon to deny it, or run from it, or ignore it. Instead Peter uses a graphic word on what we are supposed to do.We are to cast all of our anxiety on Him. Cast is a decisive energizing word. Peter was a fisherman. He cast his nets with force and at a target. This cast word means to hurl, to chuck, or to throw, to get rid of. Cast is a word that is used here as what we are to do with anxiety. Instead of going through our days pressed down by the burden of anxiety we are to cast it, hurl it upon the Lord.

It is important to point out that Verse 7 cannot be separated from verse 6. Look at what verse 6 says. "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

This reminds us that humility, and its presence, is directly related to absence of anxiety. Self preoccupation and self pity, because we are anxious, is almost an indication that we have a gloomy self focus, where we have made ourselves the center of the universe.

That does not say that our issues are not important. It is not to say that we should not be concerned, but we must be brought into the light of the fact that we have a God and the Lord Jesus Christ who is incredibly interested in the details of our lives, He knows all that we have to face. We are a matter of concern to Him. When we struggle with anxiety we are often indicating that we have an absence of humility in our lives. We are concerned with ourselves rather than concerned with Him.

God did not give us shoulders broad enough to carry cares and anxiety. The presence of anxiety is directly related to the absence of humility. What are we to do - exactly what the Bible says that we are to do. Humble ourselves under God's hand, giving to Him our anxiety.

Now we may not be able to remove the cause of our anxiety. We cannot remove tough job situations, unemployment, exams, or dealing with a reoccurring illness. We may not be able to remove the circumstances. It is not the circumstances but the anxiety that is produced by the circumstances.

The Assurance of Joy

It is our anxiety that we cast upon the Lord. It demands that we be honest with ourselves. We can refuse to be burdened with the cares that weighs us down and distracts our minds. Why because of the assurance of the Lords willingness to help.

7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

He cares for you. We are his personal concern. To Him it is a care concerning you. God knows you exactly. He knew you in your mother's womb. He knows all about you. It is this assurance that encourages us to take this action. To pray in the quietness of our room,

Lord I cannot live my life with this burden on my back and today it is yours Lord.

And then the discipline at 60 seconds a minute of walking through your day and refusing to take back on to your shoulders of what you just gave over in the quietness of your room.

Now pass this on to a friend in need.

Contributors: Indiucky; Alistair Begg