Casting your cares
Understanding anxiety
When we attempt to manage situations beyond our capacity, we find ourselves overwhelmed with worry and fear. Sometimes, this emerges from a desire for control, and other times, trauma, personality dispositions, and physical disorders can be involved. Yet, on some level, it reflects a lack of trust in God's faithful character - "emet".
Interestingly, "merimnao" (Greek for anxiety) shares a root with "merismos" (division), which may indicate how anxiety divides our minds and distracts us from clarity. As faithful disciples, our goal then remains to move away from anxiety to trust, from a split, burdened mind to a confidence in God's character.
Embracing God's love
God's love for us knows no bounds. The Bible tells us that we are fathered by God. Just as a father shows compassion to his children, so does the Lord extend His love toward us. His affection for us transcends comprehension, as expressed in scriptures such as Psalm 103:11-13, 17, where the Bible compares His love for us to the height of the heavens above the earth.
The LORD appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness, I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you - Jeremiah 31:3 AMP
We can find solace in knowing that He watches over us with deep care and affection, as highlighted in 1 Peter 5:7. Notice how he cares about you with the deepest affection!
Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. - 1 Pet 5:7 AMP
God loves you so much! There is a deep affection and love at the core of his heart. He watches over us so carefully, he adores, cherishes us, and enjoys simply watching over us. Isn't it beautiful to think about how true love just watches over us as we lay in bed sleeping every night? 1 John 4:16 tells us that God is love. If God is love, then child of God, let's see what Jesus looks like from 1 Corinthians 13:
Jesus endures with patience and serenity.
He is kind and thoughtful and not jealous or envious.
He does not brag and is not proud or arrogant.
He is not rude, self-seeking, and not provoked easily.
He does not take into account our wrongdoing when dealing with us.
He does not rejoice at the injustice done to us but instead rejoices with the truth (when right and truth prevail).
He bears all things regardless of what comes, He continually believes in us at all times, He hopes all things and endures all things.
He never fails. Prophecies may have failed, tongues might not have worked, and your knowledge may never help. But trust God because He will never fail, and He never can fail.
If you had to sum it all into one line, it would be that He believes in you and me.
Surrendering control - God is sovereign over your life.
There are some things we can learn from the story of Job. The story of Job serves as a poignant reminder of our limited control over life. Towards the end of the book of Job, God decides to question Job's understanding of him.
When I often worry and am anxious, I read Job 41-43. It's a stark reminder to my heart that I cannot control situations - they are beyond my natural ability. My response, then, is to let go of control and put my trust in God.
Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like His? - Job 40:9 ESV
If you read the verses that ensue, God says that if Job can do all of the above, then God himself will praise Job and acknowledge that his right hand can save him. We need to come to the end of ourselves and put our trust in God.
[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge that your own right hand can save you. - Job 40:14 AMP
Embracing God's plans
Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. - 1 Pet 5:7 AMP
As believers, we are assured of God's plans to prosper us. Despite Satan's attempts to derail us, we belong to God, and His plans for us are unshakable. Meditating on verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Job 42:2 reaffirms our trust in God's divine providence. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that there's hope and a future in God's prosperous plans for us. Have faith and remember:
- Not one of God's plans can be thwarted -Job 42:2
- You can't save yourself -Job 40:14
- Who, by worrying, can add one hour to the length of his life? -Matthew 6:27
Let it go and let God correct you tonight
Verses to reflect on:
- Reflect on Job 41:1 - 42:6 to gain perspective on God's response to suffering.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. - Isaiah 43:2 ESV
- 1 Pet 5:7, Job 41-43 (God's response to Job's suffering) - internalize God's promises and sovereignty