Casting Our Cares

“Cast ALL your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 
1 Peter 5:7

The Bible instructs us to cast our cares and anxieties on the Lord. When we do this, we can be confident that we are handing our deepest worries over to someone who will handle them with special regard. God cares about our anxieties. He takes those things we are struggling with and then He handles our hearts with tenderness. I don't know about you, but I do not want to hand over my anxieties to someone who could care less about me or my troubles. I would much rather hand over my anxieties and worries to someone who loves me and who is concerned with helping me get through them, all while ministering to my heart with healing. It is our responsibility to give them to the Lord. This verse asks us to willingly give up our anxieties. God is not going to take them from us. He expects us to trust Him enough to give them up willingly to Him. There needs to be a degree of vulnerability in our relationship with the Lord in order for growth and ministry to take place in our hearts and lives.

Not Just Some, But ALL

The other part of this verse we need to take a look at is the one word I underlined. It is the word ALL. The Lord is not going to pick and choose from our list of worries only to select a few that He is willing to give us peace about. He is willing, and going to care for ALL of them, not just a select few. What a comforting thing to think about! We can go to God with ALL of our baggage and not worry that He is going to pigeon hole our hearts in the process. He cares for us!

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” 

Psalm 55:22

According to this verse in Psalms when we cast our cares upon the Lord He promises to sustain us. He promises that, if we are walking righteously, then we will not be shaken. Another copyright year of the NIV says that, "He will never let the righteous fall." I love that because there are going to be times that we have troubles in this lifetime that will seem insurmountable, but when we cast them on the Lord He will not allow those troubles to make us fall! We might stumble and stagger a bit and even trip ourselves up at times, but we will not fall to the point that we can not get back up dust ourselves off and go again! What a precious promise! It is so comforting to know that the Lord is watching out for our every step. However, we must do our part of casting our cares upon Him so that He can do his part of sustaining us and not allowing us to fall.

Don't Just Cast, Throw

The word cast in both of these verses means literally to throw or to fling. The image that pops into my mind is Lord kneeling in the catcher’s position with his glove ready and waiting as we are on the pitcher’s mound trying to muster up the courage to hurl our anxieties and worries at Him with all our might. God is already in position to catch our cares. He is simply waiting for us to fling our cares at Him so we can be free. The dilemma is not on God’s end, it’s on ours. We are the ones holding the ball. His glove is empty. I think there are many times we develop stage fright when we step up on that pitcher’s mound. We ask ourselves, “What is God going to think, or does He really even care that I am weighed down with all of this?” The answers to these questions are simple. As far as what He thinks, He loves us and He wants us to share our worries with Him. He does not want us to carry anything He has not put in our hands to carry. As far as God caring about us, the word has told us He cares for us, so we should be trusting Him at his word! It’s funny how this can sometimes be easier said then done.(To read more about trusting God at His word check out "Believe And Not Doubt".) Sometimes the greatest distance is not the distance between the pitcher’s mound and the catcher’s glove, it’s the distance between our heart and our mind. This can seem like an endless chasm between believing with our minds the things our heart already knows about the character of our loving father! We so often want to question instead of simply trusting that God is going to do what He says He will do.

There is a song I remember singing as a child called “I Cast All My Cares.” I have included the lyrics hopefully some of you will know this song. If not, feel free to look it up on Youtube. It is very fitting for our topic today. I love this song, because it is one that we can sing in the times when worries and anxiety seem to overtake us. When we sing this song we are reminding ourselves that we have a heavenly father who is right there ready to free us from ALL of our cares.

I will cast all my cares upon you

I lay all of my burdens down at your feet

And anytime I don’t know what to do

I will cast all my cares upon you

Lord help us to cast, throw, and fling our cares upon you. Thank you that you care so deeply for us that you do not desire for us to carry around weights that you have not put in our hands. Thank you that you desire for us to share our worries and anxieties with you. Thank you that you desire to be our catcher when we are on the pitcher’s mound. I pray that you give us the courage to let go of the ball of anxiety and worry that we sometimes cling to so tightly that our knuckles turn white and our chest starts to hurt under the pressure of these worries. I thank you that it is not your desire for us to feel this way. I thank you that it is your desire for us to be free, and to be filled with your love, joy and peace. Thank you for caring for us so deeply!

Blind Faith

If there is ever a story of true “blind faith” in the Bible it is the story of Rebekah. I will not be inserting the entire story into our post today, but I urge you to go to Genesis 24 and read her amazing story. Here is a young woman going about her daily business of household chores when in many ways she is seemingly blindsided by the plans and purposes of the Lord. Who, but the Lord, could even fathomed that a simple trip to the well to get water for her family would change her whole life? This is a chore she has done everyday, and probably for many years with every other trip being mundane and uneventful. But God had other plans this particular day. What amazes me most about this story is not that she was asked for her hand in marriage by a complete stranger, but rather that she was ready and willing to be obedient to walk right through the doors the Lord had for her when they swung wide opened. She did not so much as hesitate when she was asked if she would go. Her response was simple and clear. “I will go.” 

"I will go."

Let’s stop and think about just how crazy this is for just one second by putting this into today’s standards. How many of us would go to the grocery store and be willing to bring home an offer of marriage to our parents from a complete stranger? As if that’s not enough to make us run away and scream “no way” at the top of your lungs, bear in mind, the man Rebekah was to marry was not on the journey. He was no where to be be seen. Rebekah did not get to meet her groom until much later! So not only do we come home from the grocery store with a complete stranger who has an offer of marriage, but the man we are getting the offer from is not even there to meet our parents! Would we say yes so quickly? And if we manage to say yes, would we travel back with this stranger on this long journey? In that day and age, they traveled by camel, so the journey was long and hard. Their trip could have taken days if not weeks. So again, how many of us would leave our family, follow a stranger to a far away land to marry a man we have never met? Crazy right? But when God opens doors for us it is so very important that we do not slam them shut in his face because we think it’s crazy. Rebekah could have easily done that. She could have easily started trying to wrap her mind around this situation and could have easily justified her way right out of it. Remember, her parents did ask her if she was willing to go. She had the opportunity to yell “NO WAY” at the top of her lungs and run away screaming. But she chose to be obedient to the will of the Lord, and what a blessing it became for her! It is so very important that when the Lord opens doors for us that we don’t try to “wrap our minds around” what he is doing. This is not the time to turn to reasoning. It is in these moments that we are to trust that God knows what he is doing, take a deep breath, and walk right through the open door.

Is "blind faith" really reckless?

We envision “blind faith” to be reckless. But may I suggest that when we start to use reasoning to dictate where we will and will not walk rather than trusting in the Lord that we actually are being more reckless than if we would just trust and obey. Here is why trusting God “blindly” works out so much better for us than trying to rely on sound judgments and reasonings. God knows all and sees all. He knows our tomorrow and our ten years from now. We do not know these things. We can only make judgments based upon what is now and what has been, not what is to come. I truly believe that we are in much better hands walking “blindly” with the Lord then we are walking with our eyes wide opened in our own reasonings. The Lord is never going to lead us somewhere only to harm or destroy us. He has so many good things planned for us even if they may seem crazy at the time the door opens. Let’s not be distracted by what looks crazy, but rather focus on what the Lord has planned for us to do and then simply do those things. 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Lord, help us to see the doors that you are opening. Then, once we see them help us to, with “blind faith,” walk right through them without hesitation. We know you have good things in store for those who love you. You have plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Help us to be reminded of these verses when the doors you are asking us to walk through seem “crazy.” Help us to keep our focus on you and what you have planned for us. Help us not to reason our way out of your plans and purposes for our lives. We desire to walk in your ways. Let your will and not ours be done!

Building Our Spiritual House

With so much emphasis put on truth being “relative” these days, it is extremely important that we as believers know what the word of God says. We are constantly being bombarded with issues that directly challenge the truths found in God’s word. The fundamental building blocks of Christianity are being shaken. However, if we take the time to truly know what the word of God says and to build our foundation upon the truths found on Christ the solid rock, then when the shakings come, our foundation will be immovable. This is the type of faith the Lord is seeking for us to have. God desires us to build with the immovable truths so our foundation can withstand even the worst shakings.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

Digging into and laying hold of the word
With the challenges we as believers face today, it is no longer a question of if the shakings come, but when. And when these shakings come, we need to be ready, because if we are not, it is only a matter of time before our entire foundation crumbles. At the point of a crumbled foundation, Christ becomes unrecognizable in our lives. The fruit of the spirit is not evident, and satan has won the war that he has been raging so hard for in our lives. Let’s not allow satan to take even one step in this direction. Let’s dig out the deep truths and build our lives upon those truths, then satan will not have a fighting chance. Let’s take responsibility to lay hold of the truths found in God’s word and never let them go.

“Buy the truth and sell it not...Proverbs 23:23 (KJV)

Building with the right stuff

Along with digging out the truths found in God’s word and not letting them go, we are also to make sure we are building with the correct things. Scripture shows us that there are more options available to us then the perfect truths of God’s word. It is our responsibility to sort out what is of God and what is not of God. Not all things that appear to be good means that we should be building with them. Just because something is "good doesn't mean it is Godly." The Lord desires for us to evaluate and sort out the Godly from the “good” and know what to build with in the midst of all if it. I have to give credit to satan for one thing, he is good at what he does. He is the master at deceiving. He will wrap enough truth in something to make it appear “good," but "good" does not equal Godly. If you question this, take some time to read how satan deceived Eve into thinking that the fruit was “good.” It is imperative that we learn to sort out the “good” from the Godly. This will save us from building with the wrong kinds of things. 

Have you ever seen a house that appears to be absolutely perfect and pristine at first glance, but upon closer inspection find that the builder took massive shortcuts? These shortcuts jeopardize the integrity of the house as well as its life expectancy. When we were searching for our house, the most important thing we looked at was the foundation. We knew that if the foundation was strong then everything else that was above it was worth the investment, but if the foundation was in poor condition then the house was not worth our time. Those houses with poor foundations, were better off being bulldozed to the ground because it is only a matter of time before they would start to fall apart on their own. It is no different with us and our spiritual house. We need to make sure that the things we are building with are not the “good” things, but rather the Godly things. Building with the “good” things might get us a beautiful looking house, but it is only a matter of time before that beautiful house becomes a massive pile of rubble. There are no shortcuts in kingdom building. 

“ If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames”.1 Corinthians 3:12-15

Lord, I pray that you open our eyes to be able to sort out the “good” from the Godly. It can be so difficult to tell the difference between the two. They can look so much alike, but we know that you desire for us to only build with the things coming from you. Help us to know your word, to know your truths so that we can be certain of what things we should be building with. Lord, make us aware when satan is trying to make something appeal to us that we should not be building with. Help us not to take shortcuts in building our spiritual house. We desire to build with the right things, and in the manner you want us to build. Thank you for giving us your word to help us in this spiritual building project.

Are You Willing?

I was sitting in church one Sunday and the thought came to me. “Are you willing to praise the Lord even if the healing doesn't come? Are you willing to love the Lord even if your prayers are not answered in the way you think they should be answered?”

Walking in Faith
These are some pretty thought provoking questions. As you know, I have been living with daily head and neck pain for years now. And as I apply these questions to my particular situation it becomes quite challenging to my faith. Many people have walked away from their faith in frustration when they have felt as though their prayers were not being heard or they were not seeing the physical evidence of God moving in a particular situation. One thing I am learning is that the kingdom of God is not about giving us what we want when we want it. The kingdom of God is not a made to order restaurant. It’s not Burger King. We can’t have it our way. Now, don’t misunderstand me here, I am not saying that we will never see the desires of our hearts. But what we will see is God moving in our situations for a greater purpose than we have the capacity to see with our limited natural vision. As humans our vision is limited to the physical realm. There will be moments however, when God will show us occasional glimpses into the realm of the spirit, tiny glances of what He is doing. However, there will be times, in fact most of the time, when the Lord will not speak a word about His plans or purposes. This is where faith comes into play. The Lord is calling us to have faith that He knows what He is doing even if we do not know what He is doing. Following God does not mean we have to know each and every little detail of the journey. It just means we have to trust the one who is leading.

Needs Vs. Wants
The kingdom of God is not about giving us what we want, it’s about giving us what we need. The distance between our wants and our needs can be a vast canyon that may never actually cross paths with one another. What can sometimes cause us much frustration in this walk of faith is the simple definition of the word need. God’s definition of the word need, and our definition of the word need often times do not even come close to lining up. Our definition of the word need will usually stem from some form of an emotion with something. For example, when I started this particular journey, my prayer was "Lord, I need you to heal my body." Emotionally, all I could do was focus on my "need" for a physical healing. Instead of healing my pain, the Lord has shown me what the true needs are. The issues of the heart and mind were the needs that have superseded the healing of my physical body. What I have learned is this, whether or not the Lord ever heals my body is not the point here. The Lord sees the need to heal my heart, and to heal the way I think and perceive particular situations. This healing has brought about a much needed eternal perspective in my life that would not have come about if the Lord had just taken away my pain. This is a healing I am so deeply thankful for!

I could have easily walked away in frustration over the fact that God did not “heal” me yet. But what would that accomplish other than allowing the devil to win the victory over my life? And there is no way I am handing my life over that easily! God is not done with me yet and I know that. So healing or no healing, the walk is not over and there is more work to be done. So it is pointless for me to grovel in the thoughts that God has not “healed” me. In all honestly, He already has healed me by the sheer fact that He has done some massive reconstructive surgery on my heart and on my mind because of this journey.

I would like you to stop and think about your own life for just a moment. Is there something in your life you have been asking God to do for you? Are you willing to praise the Lord even if that particular thing never takes place? Are you willing to love the Lord even if He never answers your prayer for that situation in the way you think He should? These are challenging questions. As you take the time to ponder them I will be praying that God brings healing to your heart and mind on this journey. It is a challenging journey, but one that will bring about a true blessing if you allow the Lord to work out some things in your life.

Lord, I thank you that you are faithful to complete a good work in us even when it is not what we think we need. I thank you that you know the true eternal needs for us and that those are the things you desire to work out in our lives far above the temporal things of this life. Help us to gain eternal perspective as we search out the answers to these challenging questions. As we ponder these questions may our walks be more solidified and steadfast! I pray that you work in us the things that can not be shaken, the things that can not be moved, the things that are eternal and the things that can not be destroyed. Have your way in our lives Lord. Take care of our needs.

Our Great Commission

A friend of mine was in a public place when she overheard two women discussing that they thought they were going to go to hell. Standing there spell bound and shocked at the conversation she had just heard she contemplated what she should do with this situation and she settled on doing nothing at all. She later told me about the conversation she had overheard and asked me if she should have said something. My response was, “Absolutely you should have said something!” Those two women were content in the idea of spending eternity in a very unpleasant place. Would we be content knowing that our souls were doomed to eternal torture? I would hope not. So since we are not comfortable allowing ourselves to settle into the path straight to hell why would we knowingly sit back and watch others walk that same path? We live in a world full of souls who have yet to meet the precious saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The whole point to our existence is to show Christ to this lost and dying world.

The Great Commission:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Christ does not want us to keep the precious gift of His saving grace for ourselves. He bestows this gift upon us not so we can lock it in a closet somewhere and horde it for us and us alone. Christ gives us His saving grace as a precious gift to share with the world, to share with everyone we come in contact with. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of hiding my salvation message away behind closed doors. But in order to see people freed from the clutches of hell, we must open up our mouths and begin to speak out about what God has done in our lives. There is a sense of urgency in our world today. People are perishing and we have the antidote to save their souls! Why is it that we are so afraid of sharing our faith with others? Is it because we are afraid of rejection, or ridicule, or are we afraid that we will be asked a question that we don’t know the answer to and will consequently feel unprepared and under equipped? I admit, my mind goes to these places, but it should not because it is nothing but selfishness on my part. Christ put in each of us His spirit to share not to keep. Yet so many of us shrink back when the opportunities come our way to talk about what the Lord has done in our lives.

Paul wrote:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16

Like Paul, we should not be ashamed of the gospel because it saves the very soul from eternal punishment. We have on the inside of us the keys to life. We hold the keys to free people from the bongages that they find themselves in. If you were bound in chains like a prisoner, wouldn’t you want someone to share with you the key to unlock your chains so you could be free? I certainly would! As hard as it might seem, this is our commission in Christ, to share the power of his saving grace with those around us. Yes, there are going to be those who reject Christ all together, but there are going to be those who will delight in Christ and His saving grace and that is what makes it all worth it! There is nothing in the world better than seeing a heart turn to Christ for the very first time! It is an absolute miracle.    

Please know that I am not talking about shoving “religion” down people’s throats here. I am talking about sharing with people in such a way that they can see our loving Father. I am talking about sharing with people from a place of love and compassion for their souls. Christ did not die on the cross so He could shove it in our faces. Christ died on the cross because He loved us that much, because He had that much compassion on us that He was willing to lay down His life for us. At the very core of the cross is LOVE. This is exactly what should drive us to share with others.

Boldness
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

According to this verse, God did not make us timid. Christ has already placed within us the boldness to share with those around us. So in those moments when we overhear a conversation of two women talking about how they are going to hell, we know that we can step out of our place of fear and step into a place of power. Christ has placed His spirit inside us to share and not to keep for ourselves. I encourage you today to step out of your comfort zone of timidity and into a place of power and boldness in Christ. Share the spirit that has been gifted to you. Just as you have freely received; freely give! 

Along with stepping out in boldness in our speech, we should also step out in boldness in our actions. I have written a previous post called "Our Voice Of Action." This post discusses the importance of allowing our actions to do the speaking for us. There will be times when our words will have little impact on the heart, but our actions can impact far greater then our words can in certain situations. Allow the Lord to direct your steps as to when it is appropriate to step out in words, and when to step out in action.

To read more on this topic of spreading the gospel visit: "Our Calling In Christ" and "Reflection of the Light."

Lord, I thank you that you have already placed within us a spirit of boldness to share our faith with those around us. Help us to not shy away from the opportunities that are placed before us. Help us not to be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power that brings salvation into the hearts and lives of those who hear it. I thank you for this great commission you have placed before us to go and share your gospel to the world. Help us to do our part each and every day in spreading your good news to every heart who will listen. Help us in the moments when we hesitate about sharing. In those moments, fill us full and overflowing with boldness and confidence in you. Most importantly Lord, fill our hearts with immense love and compassion for those around us. Lord, we place in your hands those we will be talking to in the coming days, weeks and months. Begin to soften their hearts. Fill us with your love and compassion as we fulfill this great commission you have placed before us we pray.