Cast Your Cares on God
In his letter to believers Peter calls us to cast our cares on God. He writes,
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (CSB)
There is no shortage of care and anxiety in this world. Perhaps you are struggling with family problems. Maybe you have just received a bad health diagnosis. You might be experiencing conflict with people in your work place. Your finances could be a matter of concern. Some of you are experiencing persecution for your faith in Christ. We have so many cares and concerns this side of heaven.
What do we do with them?
We can try to carry them around as heavy burdens on our backs. Perhaps we attempt to solve these issues on our own depending on our minds and energy for the solution.
That’s not what Peter calls us to do.
He encourages us to humble ourselves before a sovereign God, acknowledging that we cannot fix these problems. We are powerless to solve them on our own. God wants us to cast our cares upon Him. They are not meant for us to carry. God loves us and wants us to give Him all of our cares, worries, and fears.
When we do not cast our cares upon God, we are denying His ability and motivation to care for us. One Puritan said it this way:
If we do not cast our care upon Him we deny His care for us.
Stephen Charnock
Are you casting your cares upon God, or are you trying to solve things on your own?
Are you trying to live this life in your own power, or are you depending upon the Lord for wisdom and strength for life?
One reason you might be so burdened is that you have not cast your cares upon God.
He loves you and wants to hear your fears and carry them.
Give your cares to God. He cares for you.
Blessings!
Tim McKnight is the founder and President of McKnight Ministries©, the nonprofit parent of Engage Every Generation. He is an Associate Professor of Missions and Youth Ministry and Director of the Great Commission Center at Anderson University. Tim is on the speaking team for Clayton King Ministries. Also, he is the lead pastor and planter of a new church plant, Mosaic Church of Anderson. Tim is the author of No Better Gospel (2017), Engaging Generation Z (Kregel 2021), and editor of Navigating Youth Ministry (B&H Academic 2022).
Tim started ministry in 1991 and has served churches in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and lead pastor. He holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Bluefield College, and a M.Div. and Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His primary field of study for the Ph.D. was in evangelism, with additional studies in missions and church history. His dissertation was on The Theology and Methodology of Evangelism of George Whitefield.
He served as a US Army Chaplain in the Kentucky Army National Guard, deploying on Operation Noble Eagle (2001) and Operation Enduring Freedom (2002). He is a recipient of the Kentucky Army National Guard Distinguished Service Medal.
He is a husband to Angela, father to Micah, Noah, Karissa, and MaryAnna. The most important thing he would want you to know about himself is that he is a follower of Jesus Christ.
