Casting

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 NIV

I read this passage this morning. It's not an uncommon one; one I've heard since I was a little girl. But recently, it has had a new meaning.

How do you cast your anxiety on Him? What does that look like?

cast –verb (used with object)
1. to throw or hurl; fling: The gambler cast the dice.
2. to throw off or away: He cast the advertisement in the wastebasket.

Throw it! Hurl it! Fling it like a cockroach away from you!

I like to think of a fishing rod being cast. You fling that sucka as far away from you as you can.

The King James Version translates the word "anxiety" to "care." Things you care about.

I have a tendency to try and safeguard the things I care about. I hold them close to me for safekeeping, if you will. I watch closely to make sure things go the way I want them to go. Rarely do I fling those things away from me. Yet that is exactly what we're supposed to do!

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Why do we allow ourselves to hold onto anxiety and cares? Proverbs says that "an anxious heart weighs a man down." I don't know about you, but I don't want to be weighed down! After all, "in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." (Prov. 16:9)

Praise the Lord that because of his "great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'" Lamentations 3:22-24

So rejoice! Fling off anxiety and hurl the things you care about into the arms of the Lord! He cares!