The Most Wonderful Time of the Year | Time to Trust | Cast Your Anxieties
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
“Mom!” cried Hannah. “My balloon is flying away!” Kim darted a look at her daughter’s new toy, a helium balloon that was tied securely to her arm. “No, honey,” she reassured her anxious child. “It only looks like it’s free. But see here? This string keeps it tied to your arm so you can pull it back down anytime you want to.” Hannah laughed and grabbed the string. In seconds, the inflated Minnie Mouse was in her arms. “I see!” she cried, hugging Minnie. “I can let it go when I don’t want to hang on to it, but I can get it back anytime. So even if I let go, my balloon is never really gone, is it, Mom? This string keeps me in control.”
She’s right. Letting go doesn’t always mean it’s gone. The same is true with our worries and anxieties. We pretend we are casting them on God, but we know there’s a string. Just in case God doesn’t do what we think He should, we can pull our fears right back into our arms and handle them ourselves. So this verse tells us to “cast” our anxiety on Him. The word “cast” means to throw away. To let go. There is no string. We cast rotting food, old newspapers, and kitty litter away from us with no intention of retrieving it.
That’s what this verse means. We throw our cares and worries into God’s big dumpster. When we pretend to cast, but we’re still holding on to the string, we end up dragging anxiety back into our hearts. God invites us to cast all our cares on Him because we’re not built to carry them. He is. We can cast our fears, our desires, and our needs on the One who can do something about them. He invites us to let Him take over, but He can’t do so while we’re still holding the string.
Final Thought: When you cast your anxieties upon Him, are you still holding on to the string?
Prayer: Father, I’m often like Hannah when I try to cast my cares on you. Fear keeps that string tied tightly to my arm. Help me understand what it means to fully trust you with my future and my needs. I want to learn to fully cast my anxiety on you. Amen.