Cast Your Cares, Part 1

I Peter 5:7 Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Ps. 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

What do you do when you’re down, or really upset? Many people drink, or smoke, or seek out destructive behaviors. But we’re Christians now, and we don’t do those things? Really? Maybe you have put those things behind you. If you have, praise God. But do you isolate? Or eat too much? Or close down inside?

God really wants to take the heavy weights and concerns from us. We’re not meant to bear them without Him. When we read, “cast your cares upon Him,” most of us are directed to His willingness and desire to take our burdens and cares. This is essential, as too many of us are like the man carrying a heavy load along the road. He was picked up, but kept carrying the load. When asked by the driver why he didn’t put it down, he answered, “It’s good of you to carry me. I couldn’t possibly ask you to carry my burden as well.” Let’s not be that man.

What many of us miss is the word cast, which is crucial to the process of getting our worries and weights from our shoulders to His. Casting means to throw out, or throw down, or throw away—even to hurl something. Think of the energy of casting for fish. It’s not about laying down the net or the fishing line; it’s about tossing something far away from you, with energy and with focus about where you want it to go. We actually have to let it fly if we’re going to cast it.

Casting our cares is a three-part process. We have to know what we’re casting. We have to know how to cast them. And we have to know where to cast them.

For today, let’s remember that the scriptures use the word cast to talk about how we are to let Him have our cares. Don’t just lay them down—they are too easy to pick back up that way. Hurl them to Him.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see that casting my cares upon You involves energy and focus. Your words about cares are not platitudes; they’re real instruction. Help me to understand what You mean here.