|
Cast all your care
upon Him for He cares for you. 1
Pet 5:7.
Peter as a fisherman had often cast his
net and in so doing, always maintained a hold on it so that he could
draw it back again. But here Peter uses a different word for
“casting.” It means “to cast upon”—to cast and let go (as in
Luke 19:35).
In life’s experience how often we cast our cares upon the Lord and,
like the fisherman, hold on, reluctant to let go! The promise is
known best by those who cast and leave their care with Him.
The meaning then is that we are to commit
our whole cause to Him. If we suffer heavy trials, if we lose our
friends, health, or property, if we have arduous and responsible
duties to perform, if we feel that we have no strength, and are in
danger of being crushed by what is laid upon us, we may go and cast
all upon the Lord.
We are linked eternally
with the victorious One. There is no need to be a fainting, fretting
and worrying believer. Eph 6:16 (Above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked) assures
us that it is possible for us to quench every one of the fiery darts
of the wicked one. Surely one of them is worry and care. Cast them
on Him—when we rest in Him we are fully equipped with the armour of
God (Eph 6:10-18).
He who knows that God cares for him, need
have no anxious cares about himself. This is a plain reference to
Psa 55:22, Cast
thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee. He will
bear both us and our burden.
Our cares are a burden we would be glad to
be rid of. But His care for us is a delight to Him. Though it is
easier said than done, it is the way of peace. See
Phil 4:6-7.
It is sensible to cast all our cares upon Him, for after all He
knows all about us, the decisions we make, the activities we're
engaged in, indeed the whole course of our life. All that we do, in
all places and at all times, is fully known to Him.
None of our ways is hidden
from Him. Our paths may be habitual or accidental, open or secret,
but with them all God is well acquainted.
And so since He knows
all about us, even to the extent of the number of hairs upon our
heads, is all powerful so that even the wind and the seas obey Him,
it does indeed seem sensible that we "cast all
our care upon Him, for He cares for us". The Psalmist David
could write (Psa 23) about "The
Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want". Although he as an
individual failed on many occasions to do what God wanted, when
these words were first "penned" he got it right. How good it is to
know that there is Someone who cares for us, who is faithful to what
He has promised.
On one occasion
the Lord Jesus gave a loving appeal, "Come
unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest" (Mat
11:28). If we have lots of cares
in our life, just read those words again, because acting upon them
can give us such peace.
The first thing we need to do in our lives
is to come to Him acknowledging that we are sinners (and we have all
sinned!) and bring the burden of our sins to Him, and cast them upon
Him. The Lord Jesus can remove this burden of sin, because He bore
it in His own body on the cross. The hymn writer put it like this:
Days are filled with sorrow and care,
Hearts are lonely and drear;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Jesus is very near.
Chorus
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Calvary, Calvary,
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Jesus is very near.
If we know of the forgiveness of sins, but we are still
restless, it is perhaps because we are struggling under the
burden of trying to produce a godly life in our own strength. In
these circumstances too we still need to come to Him, and cast
all our cares upon Him because He cares for us; He will meet us
and help us with our problems.
There is One who cares for us. His eye is upon us. His heart
beats with pity for the difficulties we face, and His omnipotent
hand will bring us help. The darkest cloud will scatter in the
showers of mercy. The blackest night will give way to morning.
If we are His, He will bind our wounds and heal our broken
heart. Don’t doubt His grace because of our trials. He loves us
as much in the times of trouble as in the days of happiness.
|
