The cares of this life can be endless, we can, easily, move from worry to worry and from grief to grief, if we are so inclined to, instead of the choice of faith, casting, thanksgiving and praise! There's always something negative, a problem, to stress over. If not our own, there's always someone near and dear to our hearts that we can worry for ~ but do we really want to live like that? What does God's word say we are to do with all our cares?
Just like there's peace in the eye of a storm, we can learn to find peace in God, in our storms of life! Just like a child learning to walk ~ it takes time and effort and alot of falling and getting back up, but it is possible to know peace and joy in the midst of horrific trials. It's all about our focus, the mind, our thoughts, faith. Just like a good book or movie can steal our thoughts away, momentarily; we can choose to move our thoughts to God's sustaining power, to see us through those difficult times. Even, in the midst of difficulty we can choose to have the peace that God knows our circumstances and He's in control. We can move our hearts to focus on Him and find joy in His love and care for us, we can "deposit" our troubles with the One who loves us so deeply. Here, Peter speaks of casting, which means to throw or to hurl.
1 Peter 5:7 says,
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
About 63-64 AD, Peter penned these words to the very weary saints of the early church. These Jewish believers were experiencing a great injustice, the "fiery trials" of persecution: imprisonment, being beaten and even killed for their faith ~ not for anything they had done wrong. Peter calls these believers to live above reproach, to be blameless, to be reflectors of Christlikeness. He was challenging them to move their hearts beyond the experience, to the peace and rest that only God can give; to "cast your anxieties on Him because He cares for you."
How is this possible? How could Peter expect them not to worry being under this kind of persecution? Yet, Peter was challenging them to "cast" or "deposit" their worries one by one on the One who cared for them, so affectionately.
This act of "depositing" our cares with God is like us depositing our savings at a trusted bank and walking away, believing it to their safe keeping. We are entrusting it to them and no longer worrying if it is secure. The idea of "casting" is like casting a net out or casting a fishing line; it's casted out and away from us.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas applied this teaching well when they were stripped, severely flogged, imprisoned and their feet put in stocks. About midnight they were praying and singing hymns! The other prisoners were listening to them. How could they do that, after being beaten? They weren't angry at God, they sought Him in prayer, they sang! They moved beyond their circumstances and chose to praise the God they loved! Their faith, opened the door to God's grace because it says, "Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and every body's chains came loose."They didn't run, but cared enough to be concerned for the frantic jailer that felt he'd lose his life if they escaped. The jailer had drawn his sword to take his own life! Paul called to the jailer, in the darkness, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"The jailer then called for the lights and rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"The jailer was saved that night! Was it the singing and prayer, their praise? The violent earthquake sent by God? Or maybe, the chains that fell loose and the prison doors that fell open? Or maybe their love for the jailer? You see, our faith causes us to act, totally, different in our circumstances and God was seen and the jailer was saved! Do others see our God when we are in distress or just a person that's a worried mess that has no God to turn to? This is a challenge for me as well!
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas applied this teaching well when they were stripped, severely flogged, imprisoned and their feet put in stocks. About midnight they were praying and singing hymns! The other prisoners were listening to them. How could they do that, after being beaten? They weren't angry at God, they sought Him in prayer, they sang! They moved beyond their circumstances and chose to praise the God they loved! Their faith, opened the door to God's grace because it says, "Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and every body's chains came loose."They didn't run, but cared enough to be concerned for the frantic jailer that felt he'd lose his life if they escaped. The jailer had drawn his sword to take his own life! Paul called to the jailer, in the darkness, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"The jailer then called for the lights and rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"The jailer was saved that night! Was it the singing and prayer, their praise? The violent earthquake sent by God? Or maybe, the chains that fell loose and the prison doors that fell open? Or maybe their love for the jailer? You see, our faith causes us to act, totally, different in our circumstances and God was seen and the jailer was saved! Do others see our God when we are in distress or just a person that's a worried mess that has no God to turn to? This is a challenge for me as well!
Do you understand, if we have faith, they can beat the body, imprison us, put us in stocks and even kill us, but they cannot steal our mind, unless we allow it? We can captivate our thoughts! We can, actually, choose to praise and sing and place our hope in God, in the midst of great distress! Like we talked about in a previous blog, God is our oasis, in the desert of life. Even in the most extreme circumstances, God shows up for those who love Him! We can cast our cares on Him because He cares for us!
Psalm 55:22 says,
"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."
Jerusalem had become a city of violence and strife, because of the treason of Ahithophel. This psalm, is thought to be most likely written, during the rebellion of Absalom (David's son) and Ahithophel's betrayal. (David's trusted counselor.) David's utterance of this passage occurred while suffering this classic treachery that furnished the opportunity for David's deepest distress. David knew God on an intimate level, and it was his God that he turned to in his time of deepest need.
David trusted God; God had proven Himself to be present with David time and time again; showing His faithfulness, to bee an ever present help in trouble. David didn't just hope God existed, David knew Him, he depended on His presence with him and God's ability to act on his behalf. David was a friend of God's; he knew Him, personally, and valued Him, as trustworthy. David, continually, casted his cares on God, the God who sustained him and kept him from falling! David's God was bigger than any "Goliath" and was his "Deposit Box"! Where do you make your deposits? This is something we can work on together!
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