Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God


by Leave a comment

25 Casting your Care – Part 2

1 Peter 5:6-7

“6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

Living a fear free life starts with surrendering to the Savior, which leads to a humble heart that is willing to:

  • Cast the care

The Bible reminds us here that we will all have worry but as believers we don’t have to carry our care. Many people falsely believe that once they are saved it will be smooth sailing, but in fact the storms often seem to get more severe. Peter is pointing out that trusting in God doesn’t offer a trouble free life. Salvation doesn’t guarantee the good life or a groan free life it offers us God, it’s not the absence of problems but the power of His presence. As Christians we are not called to carry but to cast our cares. Both casting and carrying take effort, it’s just that one frees us from continually trying to continually trusting and the other forces us from trusting to a life of trying. When we chose to carry instead of cast we end up trading freedom for fetters. Carrying brings bondage but casting brings blessing. This word “casting” comes from a Greek verb that was used of casting garments onto a beast of burden. Instead of us carrying the care we let Christ carry it. Casting our cares is not only a result of humbleness but a requirement of humbleness. Casting our cares upon the Lord means that we trust the promise that He cares for us. Christ desires deeply to carry our cares, as Isaiah 53:4 says “He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows”  and He has invited us, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30. The truth is that we will cast in proportion to our trust. Often the real reason that we carry our cares is because we don’t trust Christ. Do you not only believe but also trust that the Lord has the power, wisdom, and ability to use your “struggles, suffering, trials and troubles” to work for your good and His glory? Casting literally means to fling or to throw, instead of trying to shoulder your sorrow give it to God. Many of us are toting our troubles around instead of tossing them. The Antidote to anxiety is not only admitting our need for the Almighty but leaving our anxiety with the Almighty. Are you distressed? Then cast your cares on Christ.  Are you discouraged? Cast your discouragement on Christ.  Are you in despair? Then cast your desperation on Christ.  Are you hurting? Then cast your pain upon Christ. Are you fearful? Cast your fear upon Christ. So often we are quick to complain but slow to cast. Why would we waste our energy complaining when we could be casting? Because often what we really seeking is sympathy not a solution. But sympathy doesn’t solve your sadness, instead of seeking people to feel bad for you why not seek the Father to carry your burdens for you. The verb “casting” is in a form that refers to a one time process. This is a once and for all casting, in other words when you throw your troubles make sure you let go. Many of us are wasting our energy because while we cast we never really let go. When we don’t let go we end up casting our cares only to reel them back in. Instead of finding freedom we find ourselves fishing in a pond where the only fish we will catch are the very fears we just gave to the Father. When the worries of life come we don’t have to bear them alone, we serve a Savior who is stronger than us and cares enough to carry our load. We are not told to “cast some of our cares upon the Lord”. We are not told to cast “most of our cares upon the Lord” We are not even told to “cast our biggest burdens upon the Lord”. We are called to “CAST ALL OUR CARES UPON HIM” Often we transfer part of our burdens to Him and keep part to ourselves, not fully trusting that He can handle them all. What worries are you holding onto? Are you bringing all your burdens to God not just the big ones? When it comes to our problems we are not called to partner with God and take a portion of them ourselves.  God desires for us to trust and turn all of our cares over to Him. Nothing is too big for God nor is anything too small. Luke 12:6-7 tells us that He cares for a single sparrow and knows the very number of the hairs of our heads. Why should we cast our cares on Christ? Because He cares for us. God cares for you, He loves you and He longs to take care of you. The word for care here means, to be concerned. Christ is concerned about us, which means that our confidence comes from the fact that our Creator is concerned for His creation. There is no promise of being released from any difficulties; the comfort comes in knowing who is concerned about us, God Himself. Our confidence and comfort doesn’t come from a trouble free life it comes from the Creator of life. Our part of the process is to believe, to bow and to bring our burdens to Him, its letting Christ be in control of our lives. It’s a choice we make, it’s not based on positive thinking, believing in myself, or sticking your head in the sand and pretending there is no problem, it’s based on who He is. Our part is being humble, not a passive resignation, but an active cooperation. Casting our anxiety on God involves throwing our cares, it takes effort on our part. The casting is not up to God, we have to take action. If we don’t worry will strangle and suffocates our lives. It will ruin our relationships as it robs us of life and joy. It doesn’t just drain us physically and emotionally it strangles us spiritually, our devotion to God declines and we begin to doubt His promises and forget His faithfulness. Anxiety steals our contentment, our confidence and our ability to trust God. Are you trusting in His faithfulness and walking by faith or fretting? There is a Swedish Proverb that says, “Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” Are you clouding up your life with cares and living in the shadows or casting them on Christ and living in His light?


by Leave a comment

24 Casting your Care – Part 1

1 Peter 5:6-7

“6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

In an effort to conquer fear, Christians often quote 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” but that only gives us a partial picture. If we want a more complete picture when it comes to casting our care we need to include the verse preceding, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” Conquering fear doesn’t start with casting it starts with capitulation. A fear free life:

  • Starts with Surrender

Instead of living scared lives we are called to live surrendered lives. Dealing with fear means living by faith, which requires that we turn to and trust in God. For many submission has a negative connotation because we have a perverted perspective, we see submission as giving up or giving in, when it really involves gain. Submission frees us from having to figure everything out. Instead of having to be in charge and trying to carry the burdens we give control to Christ. Submission to the Savior doesn’t take away our freedom rather it lets us live free lives, because instead of us having to try we get to trust. Submission is turning over control to Christ, its letting the Redeemer take the reigns. One of the reasons we cast our cares only to real them back in is that we have never really surrendered control to Christ. We come to Him to fix our problems not to fall on our face and yield to His plan. We want the help we just want it our way. This isn’t just seeking God in the scared times but submitting to him at all times. I would suggest that one of the real reasons we are living scared lives is because we are trusting in self and not the Savior. As a result everything rests on us instead of resting on the Redeemer. We will never cast what we try to carry. Living a fear free life starts with submission which leads to a:

  • Humble Heart.

Inseparably linked to submission is the virtue of humility. A humble heart is the result of a surrendered heart. Verse 5 exhorts all of us, both young and old alike to clothe ourselves with humility, “And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This is not just a call to humility it’s being clothed with humility. The word clothe here refers to a servant’s garment, literally the apron of a slave that was worn over their other clothing and tied with a knot. Once this garment was on, the slave was ready for their task. Likewise we will never be of service to God until we clothe ourselves with Christ’s humility. I wonder how many saints would be scantily clad if they were clothed only in their humility? Until we clothe ourselves in true humility we will never cultivate a heart of humility. How does a humble heart combat fear, by freeing us from the poison of pride. Pride produces an attitude of arrogance and if you don’t recognize pride it will slowly and silently slip in and poison your life. Pride promises us fame but delivers failure. Instead of living a faithful life we end up living a foolish one. Life becomes about self-effort instead of the Savior. It becomes about my work instead His. Pride puts us on a never ending path of performance. Instead of resting in the finished work of redemption we end up running on the never ending treadmill of trying. And no matter how much we achieve it’s never enough. Pride was the poison that Satan used in the garden of Eden to taint Eves thinking, Genesis 3:4 “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5″For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” Pride causes us to compete with God instead of communing with Him. Instead of an exciting life we live an exhausted one. Are you tired of the treadmill of trying, do you recognize pride in your life, are you ready to resist it? If you want to succeed then you need to stop trying and start trusting. Pride causes us to work at promoting self, but humility frees us from the endless work of promoting self to the worthwhile work of proclaim Christ. Instead of spend our lives serving self we spend them serving the Savior. We protect against pride by positioning ourselves under the powerful hand of God. The key to success is submission to the Savior. We need to remember that Christ is the commander and he calls the shots. The antidote to arrogance is admitting that we need the Almighty, it takes a humble heart to hide under God’s mighty hand. The humble find protection but the prideful find hardship. In Daniel chapter 10 we find Daniel in deep distress, he had had a vision and had sought the Lord for answers. Verse 12 reveals the reason for God’s answer, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.” It was a heart of humility that caused heaven to hear. When we humble ourselves under His hand we find help but when trust in self we end up suffering. Pride will always keep you from prayer, but a humble heart provides protection. When it comes to humility C.S. Lewis offers us some great insight: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.” When we put ourselves in our rightful place, God lifts us up at the right time. Pride is the plague of our time, selfishness is the sickness that has infected our society and one of the symptoms of selfishness is fear. But servants of the Savior are not focused on fear and bound up in the bondage of worry because they are busy engaged in the work. Are you wasting your energy in worry or engaged in the work? Humility means having the heart of Christ, the One who though He was God yet for our sakes emptied Himself and became a bond servant. Philippians 2: tells us that He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. John 13 tells us that He wrapped a servant’s towel around His waist and washed His disciple’s feet. What are you wrapped up in today is it an apron of service or an attitude of selfishness? Are you wrapped up in His work or your worry?