PASS ON YOUR WORRIES

PASS ON YOUR WORRIES!

The Apostle Peter wrote these words:

Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you (1 Pet 5:7).

It is totally sensible to cast all our cares upon the mighty hand of God, 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 (Psalm 23) about "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want". Although David 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.

The meaning is then that we should 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 daily life, we should go and cast all upon the Lord.

Peter, as a fisherman, had often cast a net holding firmly on to it, so that he could draw it back in again. But here Peter uses a different word for “cast.” It means “to cast upon”—to cast and let go. However, in life’s experience how often we cast our care and, like the fisherman, hold on, reluctant to let go!

Peter is talking particularly about anxiety. 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" (see Mat 11:28). If you have lots of cares in your life, I would suggest you 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.

Cast your care on Jesus today,
Leave your worry and fear;
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. And God will exalt us in due time if we humble ourselves under the might hand of God by casting all our cares upon Him (1 Pet 5:6-7).