Casting Our Cares on Him -- Not Running From Him

"6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1 Peter 5: 6-7)

I have been learning a lot about this passage.

For the longest time, I realized that I was not casting my cares on him.

Even this translation is somewhat inaccurate, because "care" should be plural.

We have cares.

These cares do not go away forever. They do not go away right away.

Every time that I felt fear, I was convinced that I was sinning, and I had to do something how I felt.

I was running from God, or worse I felt that God was one thousand miles away.

The Bible is crystal clear: "I will never leave you nor forsake you!" (Hebrews 10: 5)

For the longest time, I was convinced that I had to do something about my fears when I got afraid.

No! I am called to cast them onto Him.

Today, I began asking: "How do I cast my cares on You, Lord?"

I was asking the wrong question. He has been holding onto everything, including my cares.

In fact, the verse answers the question. We cast our cares, because He cares for us.

We know that He cares for us because He sent His Son to die for all our sins:

"13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)

To give us His life:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16)

To give us the standing of His Son:

"4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

and of course:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

The big issue for me, though, was that there was a sense of shame every time I got afraid.

I was convinced that I needed to do something, struggle against the feelings, against the thoughts. Then I would get all tangled up with the feelings.

Instead of running from God, or thinking that God had left me because of my feelings, He was inviting me to come to Him.

Wait a second. . .He has invited us many times to come to Him:

"28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11: 28-30)

and then

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4: 16)

When we feel fear, the answer is not to try and figure it out ourselves. Because we know that He cares for us, we cast, we let go, we heap these cares on Him