Often when I read Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything..." I think, "Really, God? Have you seen my life? Do you see the complexities of caring for an aged, widowed uncle leading to sleepless nights, and the chronic health problem my husband battles every single day, or the mounting medical bills? And, Lord, by the way, have you seen the chaos that’s going on in the world right now?" Mental health experts say 1 in 3 people are currently suffering from heightened anxiety or depression. So how are we supposed to not be anxious about anything? It feels impossible!
God doesn't ask us to do something He doesn't equip us for. But before we can think about the how, we have to think about the Who. Unless we come to the place where we believe that God's shoulders are big enough to carry any worry or anxiety we have, we'll never move to a place of calm─we'll never find victory over the anxiety that so often takes us down into the deep well of discouragement. Instead, our anxieties begin ruling our lives tying us all up in knots, even paralyzing us at times. The very thing we crave─lasting peace─escapes us.
First Peter 5:7 reminds us that we can "cast all our cares" (some translations use "anxieties”) on God because He cares for us. And He doesn't just care for us a little bit, He cares for us a whole lot, so much so that He stretched out His arms and died for us, so we can be confident that every single thing that worries our hearts, matters to Him. But we have to believe He's trustworthy. Once we have that settled, then we can start with our part.
What's our part? To "cast," our cares on Him (there's His big shoulders again). The word casting in the Greek means "to throw upon, or place upon." Psalm 55:22 in The Message puts it this way: “Pile your troubles on GOD’s shoulders, he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.”
Then we pray about "everything," every worry, every situation that keeps us up at night and on our knees, every person we love, every health diagnosis, every heartbreak, every job challenge, every battle─every everything! It's the everything that often trips me up. I find that I'm doing fine for a while, and then some new anxiety hits my life and I'm back to square one. I forget that I'm to be "casting" and praying about everything instead of keeping it.
When that happens, what do we need to do? Go back to the beginning because it's often a trust issue. Do I trust God to handle my cares or don't I? The command is to cast or pile your anxieties on God; the promise is God cares about everything you are worried about and He can be trusted to keep your anxieties so you don’t have to.
Once we trust the Who it is that carries our worries, then we can begin releasing them through prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 says, "...but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Petition means "to keep it up, over and over again." Whenever our worries threaten to overtake us and disturb our peace, we lean back in prayer to the One who is able to take the anxieties we are carrying onto His shoulders. Thanksgiving is that forward look of faith that thanks God before we see the answer, with the byproduct being an enduring peace that will guard and protect our hearts and minds from our anxieties.
God sees our weariness. He knows our burdens and He's waiting for us to transfer the heavy load we're carrying to Him for help, to admit that we're unable to carry it alone. It’s up to us to decide what we'll do with our cares, to cast or keep them. The only choice that will lighten our load is to cast them, piling them onto God’s capable shoulders.
For Further Study:
📖 Read:
💭 Reflect:
- Where in your life are you still “keeping” instead of “casting” your worries?
- What would it look like to trust God fully with those burdens?
🙏 Pray:
Lord, help me release every anxious thought into Your hands. Teach me to trust Your care, even when the outcomes are unknown. Amen.
