Casting Your Cares
30 Days in 1 Peter - day 27
Occasionally someone will ask me, “What is your favorite Bible verse?” Or a similar version of that question like, “What is your life verse?” I usually answer the same way—I don’t have one. There are just too many to choose from. At least that is my opinion and I mean no offense to those who have a favorite.
I will say that there are certain verses and texts that hold a special place in my heart. 1 Peter 5:7 is one of those. I suspect the reason it does is the same reason people call other verses their favorites or their life verse. 1 Peter 5:7 rescued me from a spiritually dark place early in my Christian life.
To this day, I can’t tell you what put me in that place. Possibly, it was my spiritual immaturity (I was relatively new to the faith). Or maybe it was all of the changes I was going through in life. Whatever the human cause, the devil certainly was using it as a cudgel against me.
Looking back the wisdom of 1 Peter 5:7 seems obvious. But the devil is cunning and kept me from unloading my burden on God. He used guilt, shame, and fear to convince me this was a burden I had to carry alone. 1 Peter 5:7 said differently.
Of course, pride played a big part in the whole problem. That is why verse seven is preceded by verse six telling us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. “Mighty hand” sounds intimidating – and it is. But Peter tells us the heart of God that is joined to the hand of God cares for us.
We all have cares. There is a lot to worry about in this life. Our health, our finances, our jobs, our family...those are the big categories and they have a million specific items under each column. The thing about all those things that cause us such anxiety is we usually can’t do much about it.
But there is one thing we can do—one thing we must do, for the sake of our souls: we must cast our cares upon God.
Casting our cares is not just something we should do— it’s something we struggle to do because we don’t fully believe God cares.
To do this in a meaningful way, and by that I mean a way that peace replaces anxiety in our hearts, we must believe this one thing about God – that he cares about us.
Let me assure you He does. He has proven it in the greatest way possible. He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins. What greater evidence of His care is there?
So whatever worries you today, take it to the Lord. Cast it upon Him. He will carry what you cannot—because He cares for you.
A favorite of mine too ~ Rosie