1 Peter 5:7
In this verse, Peter stresses the importance of trust in the face of life’s anxieties. We’re not to go through life gripped by fear and worry, but instead we are to trust God in each situation. The opposite attitude of trust is worry, which is really a subtle form of unbelief. Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Worry is an old man with bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks are lead.” Worry is foolish because it concerns that which isn’t. It lives in a hypothetical future. It deals in what if’s and could be’s. Jesus had much to say about worry and anxiety. The word ‘worry’ comes from an Old English word that means to strangle or to choke. And that is exactly what it does to you whenever it grips your mind—it will strangle the life out of you. It is the same word that Jesus used to describe the worries and concerns of the world that choked out the seed of the word from being fruitful in the lives of hearers.
Life’s ‘anxieties’ come in a variety of forms. Sometimes they come in the form of difficult people. Sometimes they come in the form of health concerns. Sometimes they come in the form of needs in the lives of our children. Yet no matter the packaging they come in, Peter tells us how to process them. We must ‘cast’ them upon the Lord. The idea is that we ‘throw’ ourselves completely upon the care of God. We cast ourselves upon His sufficient mercy.
Why is it that we have no problem trusting God with our eternity, but for some reason or another, we don’t expect Him to provide for us here in the temporary moments of our lives? If God can take me to heaven, then I’m pretty sure that He can also take care of me here on earth.
Don’t dwell on tomorrow’s stress, and don’t fixate on yesterday’s mess. Instead, you can cast today’s cares upon One who cares for you.
For more, read Matthew 6:25-34; Psalm 55:22
